The Boy in Blue
by Winged Element
Summary: Vergil was alone, his mother gone and Dante nowhere to be found. He needed help and he needed a place to stay, upon turning up at the police station he was little more than a boy in a blue t-shirt.
1. Awakened

A/N: Hey! So! I'm going to be taking a couple week break from Wrinkle in Time while I play DMC so that I can write that fic honestly and not have to guess and sit and watch cutscenes, well I'll probably still have to watch cutscenes but still, it'll be easier if I just play the game… So in the meantime those of you who follow me as an author don't get nothing, you get the beginning of a new story, but keep in mind that this story will only have a couple chapters and then there'll be a break while I finish up one of my other fictions and then I'll come back to this, so it's like a sneak peak? Something like that… anywho, jumping in right where the other one left off so here we go!

Disclaimer: Yeah, right.

Awakened

The last thing that Vergil expected was to wake up, and even further than that, to wake up absolutely _brimming_ with power… he blinked, feeling the power pulse stronger and stronger until the boy was sure that he couldn't keep it inside of him anymore. There was a flash of light and the strangest of sensations and then it was gone, leaving the boy to collapse on the ground once more in exhaustion. He blinked, trying to keep his eyes open, trying to make sense of the image that he was seeing… in the end though, he wished that he hadn't. As he drifted back into unconsciousness Vergil realized that he was staring at his mother's corpse.

It wasn't long later that the young half devil woke again, feeling much stronger and more powerful than he had in his life. He climbed to his feet, trying not to look at the dead body that lay there, yet feeling tears prick at his eyes anyway. He looked around himself, seeing the horrid remains of the house. Nothing was left standing, everything was in ruin, smoldering and smoking as the soft rain from above put out the fires. Vergil lifted his head to the sky, his small shoulders shaking as sobs wracked his body.

"Mom…" he whispered, his mind stretching out, trying to find his brother and coming up blank. He froze, at first thinking the worst must've happened. He picked up Yamato and bit his lip, before whispering

"I love you mommy…" and beginning to explore the wreckage. After some searching he found the place where he and Dante had been hiding and to the young devil's relief, it was empty, no body, but no Dante either.

"Dante?" he called out, his voice hoarse and rough from crying and fighting. There was no response, the only noise was the sound of the rain as it pattered down uncaringly. He cleared his throat and tried again, still moving through the wreckage.

"Dante?" his mind was searching for the bright light that was his brother's demonic aura. Maybe he had wandered off to the town to look for help… Vergil thought to himself, clutching Yamato tighter in his grip, the sword pulsed, sending him feelings of comfort and safety. The devil arm would never abandon its charge and would protect him as best it could, right now its young master was scared and alone and needed help. It pulsed again, nudging the young devil's mind in the direction of help.

"I can't go…" he whispered, tears flowing down his face "I can't leave Dante…" the sword sent the nudge in his mind again and with a look around the silent, ruined house and a choked sob he started in the direction the ancient devil arm suggested.

-The Boy in Blue-

Vergil was feeling even more ragged and exhausted than he had been before by the time he reached a town and the police station within, it was dark both outside and inside the building but the young half devil knocked anyway. He hoped someone heard him because he sat down in front of the door and rubbed absently at his left arm, where Yamato had disappeared to some time earlier. He thumped his head back against the door a few more times before closing his eyes and allowing himself to relax, tears streaming down his face as images from that day flashed behind closed eyelids. The boy was so close to being asleep that when the door opened he nearly fell over backward. There was a noise of surprise behind him and he blearily blinked before turning and rising to his feet.

"Hey kid, what can I do…" the man trailed off upon seeing the blood soaking the young boy's form and the raggedness of his appearance and promptly ushered him in the door.

-The Boy in Blue-

There was a lot of calling around and searching done in the time after Vergil was brought into the police station. Not that the boy remembered any of it, after being told to sit in a comfy looking chair, he promptly fell asleep. When he woke again he could hear everyone talking a little ways away, their voices were lowered as not to wake him but not too low that he couldn't hear.

"His records are a mess, we're not even sure if there's actually just one child or if he has a brother." Said one voice

"The house is a mess too, we're not going to get anything from that." Another said

"Does he have any living relatives?" That was the policeman's voice

"Not that we can find." The first voice said.

"You're sure?" the policeman again

"Yes, whoever his mother really was, she didn't want anyone to know anything, like we said, the records are an absolute nightmare."

"Well he has to stay somewhere for the night, the poor kid can't just sleep in the station."

"I'll take him." A new voice piped up, Vergil opened his eyes to see a woman a little older than his mom smiling right at him.

A/N: Man… that just hits you right in the feels doesn't it…? I feel terrible for poor Vergil…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	2. A Place to Stay

A/N: Hey guys! Still clinging to life over here… *sighs* way… too… much… homework… bleh… so I'm gonna take this time while I'm on the bus to write some good 'ol fanfiction and relax… with killing all of you with the feels :) heheheh…

Disclaimer: Why on earth would I want to do that?

A Place to Stay

Everyone was staring at the woman who had just spoken up, she wasn't dressed in any sort of uniform so Vergil just assumed that she had to be a normal person, like his mom had been… he bit his lip, shaking his head and trying to ignore the memories that were trying to crop up in his mind.

"You?" the two people who were not policemen eyed her up and down.

"I'm perfectly qualified to look after a child for a day or two while you get things sorted out."

"I'm not so sure," the shorter of the two said "why would a 'qualified' person be in the police station in the dead of night?"

"I'm picking up my cousin's drunk friend." She explained, pointing down the hallway. The policeman's eyes lit up

"I remember talking to you on the phone!" he said "The damn bastard's passed out down there, honestly I'd just let your cousin pick him up in the morning, it'll give him time to cool his head and then neither of us have to drag him to your car."

"I appreciate the offer." She said with a smile "But my cousin wouldn't be too pleased with me and while that shouldn't bother me, I do enjoy having use of the cabin just outside of town."

"Right, suit yourself…" the officer grumbled, Vergil could tell that he wasn't too happy with the decision but his attention was more focused on the other two who were quietly whispering to each other. A moment later they looked to the woman and the taller said

"If you're still interested, we'd just like to ask you a few questions and get some things settled." She nodded and followed them down the hall; the policeman just sighed and looked over at Vergil, only now seeming to notice that he was awake.

"Hey kid, how you feeling?" he asked, walking over and sitting down in a chair across from the young half devil.

"I'm okay." Vergil said quietly, sitting up completely now. He could feel the man's eyes on his chest, where a gaping hole lay from the beam of red energy earlier that had pierced him through.

"You sure? That's an awful lot of blood." He said, still looking at the boy, his entire front was soaked in blood, including quite a bit of his hair and there was a big hole in his shirt but there didn't seem to be a scratch on the kid, was it all other people's blood? But how…? They were beginning investigations on the house and what had happened there but considering that fire and rain had gotten to it first the officer wasn't sure how much they'd find out from it.

"I'm fine." The kid whispered again, not meeting his eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked, hoping to get _something_ out of the boy, the child protective service workers hadn't been able to find anything solid in the few hours that they had been here. That didn't mean there was nothing but they had gotten _nothing._ Absolutely nothing. That didn't bode well for future searches. The kid paused before answering, as though debating what he could tell the police officer, whether or not he could trust him, it made the man wonder just what this kid had seen in his short life.

"Tony. My name's Anthony." He said quietly, the name made him think of Dante and he had to bite his lip to keep tears from welling up in his eyes again.

"Well then Tony, you got a last name?" Vergil paused for a moment, not long enough that the officer would think he was lying but of course the first thing that came to his mind was a name that Dante had said when they were very little, one that he thought was cool.

"Redgrave." He answered fluidly, now he just had to remember those names, that's all he had to do, keep his story straight. If the young devil was being honest with himself, he had no idea what was going to happen to him, he didn't know where he'd end up and if he'd ever see Dante again, he promised himself that as soon as he was able he'd go looking for his brother. He knew that the younger half devil was weaker, that he was more afraid on his own.

"That's…" the policeman paused "that's an interesting name. Vergil just looked at him blankly, not really caring if the man liked his new name or not.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for some time, the officer asking the kid if he could get him anything, which the kid promptly refused, instead holding tightly to an amulet around his neck, the man couldn't help but take a curious peek at it. It was huge and red and looked like it should be very heavy though the boy didn't seem to show it. Just when the policeman thought he was going to go crazy from the silence the social workers returned, the woman in tow. She walked right up to Vergil and knelt in front of him.

"You're going to stay with me for a couple nights while they try to sort some things out, is that okay?" Vergil just looked at her, blinking slowly before nodding.

"You wanna tell me your name?"

"Tony. Anthony Redgrave."

A/N: A little short but the bus is about to pull in… so!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	3. Waking Up

A/N: Hey guys… so it's been a little while… this is by far the longest break from fanfiction that I've ever taken… but I am back now so that's good right? I've been in Tokyo the whole summer and am now back in Michigan continuing my studies. Classes are tough but not too crazy and I'm working hard to keep on top of things. My updates my still be a bit sporadic but I'll try to keep things at least semi-regular. Anyway, I intend to put up my stories from Tokyo on Deviantart at some point but otherwise I'll just move on with what you guys are actually here for ^^;

Disclaimer: I've been to Japan but I still don't own CAPCOM

Waking Up

Vergil woke up in a car, his sharp nose picking up the smell of alcohol from somewhere behind him. He blinked blearily and sat up, it was still dark outside but the light from the dials illuminated the lady from the police station. She'd said that her name was Madeline, he recalled, yawning slowly and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Glad to see you're awake." She said, glancing at him from the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to the road.

"I fell asleep again?" the half devil mumbled, shifting in his seat, trying to work some of the stiffness from his muscles.

"You must be tired, it's quite the experience you went through." She said softly and Vergil bit his lip, his hand traveling to the hole in his shirt, remembering the pain of being stabbed through. Now his heart beat beneath his fingers, he never would have thought that he could survive being run through with a blade, let alone a beam of energy. Then again, there were a lot of things he didn't know, his father was gone, his mother was gone now too and he had no idea if his brother was dead or alive.

"Yes." He said softly, his fingers closing around the amulet that hung from his neck.

"That's quite the necklace." Madeline said, looking over at him again "Where'd you get it?" Vergil didn't quite understand why she was still talking to him, he just wanted to be left alone.

"My mom gave it to me." He whispered, he could hear her swallow as she realized the land mine that she stepped on.

"I'm sorry."

-The Boy in Blue-

The rest of the car ride passed in silence until they pulled into the garage of a small looking cabin.

"We're here," she said, the words pulled a tired, grouchy sounding groan from the back seat and the young devil turned around the passenger seat in surprise. In his tired mourning, he hadn't noticed the sound of breathing behind him.

"Don't mind him, that's my cousin's friend." Madeline said with a soft smile before reaching back and shaking the man's shoulder.

"Come on Ricardo, it's time to go inside." The man grumbled again and sat up a little unsteadily.

"Wha the hell… are we doin back 'ere?" he slurred, looking well beyond intoxicated.

"I brought you home from the police station." Madeline explained carefully, as though this man were a toddler rather than an adult.

"Hmmf." He grumbled, slowly exiting the car and using it as support to make his way into the house. Vergil watched with careful eyes, he didn't trust any of these people, not yet anyway, he wanted to be sure he could take any of them down should he need to. Ricardo, was clearly not a threat. He followed Madeline into the house slowly, memorizing the layout of the house as quickly as his still tired mind would allow. In the kitchen stood another woman who was trying to get Ricardo to go to bed.

"Honey, just go to the bedroom, trust me, you'll be glad you did that instead of crashing on the couch."

"I don't want to get up." The man grumbled, leaning back farther on the couch and turning his face from the light of the kitchen. The woman rolled her eyes and waved a hand at him, clearly fed up with his actions before turning to Madeline

"Thanks for going to get…" she stopped upon seeing Vergil "Who's the kid? Is that… is that blood?" she took a step back, as though the situation would clear up with further distance.

"His name's Anthony." Madeline said "He had just wandered up to the police station when I got there, I said I would let him sleep here for the night."

"You can't just do that." The other woman said

"Laurie, he has nowhere to go and just went through huge amounts of trauma, what was I supposed to do?"

"Let someone else take him." She grumbled, glaring daggers at Vergil, Vergil met her stare, not breaking it until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Anthony, let's get you cleaned up. Laurie's brother's stuff should still be here, right Laurie?" Madeline stared at her cousin from where she crouched next to Vergil and the other woman sighed reluctantly

"It should be, I'll go get it." She continued to grumble under her breath as she walked away. Madeline looked back to Vergil and shook her head

"Don't mind her, she's harmless, mostly. There's a bathroom down the hall, c'mon." she led Vergil into the bathroom and got out a towel before turning back to him

"Are you going to be okay if I let you clean yourself up?" she asked and the young devil nodded mutely. She smiled

"Okay, holler if you need anything." With that she was gone and Vergil took a deep breath, alone for the first time since he'd made it to the police station. A choked sob leaked from his throat and several tears began to create new tracks down his face. A soft nudge came into his mind as he was reminded that he wasn't truly alone. The young devil clung to the feeling, Yamato materializing in his left hand and Vergil hugged tightly to the ancient katana. The demon within having long forgotten how to materialize into an actual form it continued to pulse out feelings of comfort to its' young charge. Eventually the anger it had toward the monster that did this started to leak into Vergil's mind. The half devil let out a low growl,

"How dare they…" he growled at his reflection, feeling the power sleeping within him start to awaken, his eyes beginning to take on an otherworldly light as the just discovered inner demon came out to play

"They will pay."

A/N: Haha! Man I forgot how much I miss this shit…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	4. Pain

A/N: Hey guys! Sunday night again and I'm like… well I should probably type up something for you guys to read ^^; If I do that's two weeks in a row for this fic! I just found an amv for a movie who's name I can't remember off the top of my head and set to the song You Can Be King Again. It's super sad. So who's ready for more feels?

Disclaimer: Heh.

Pain

Vergil let out another low growl, the power continuing to build up inside him, along with a throbbing pain in his chest.

"They will pay…" he said again, Yamato thrumming in agreement. The ancient katana had a bloodlust like no other, fierce and dark and burning it flowed into the young devil's mind like a plague. Vergil clenched his fists tightly, sparks beginning to dance off his knuckles as the power within started to hit higher levels. Suddenly pain flared in his chest and he gasped, letting go of Yamato and looking at his hands, not quite able to process what he was seeing. His hands were buzzing, moving back and forth almost too fast for his eyes to process, were he human it would've looked like a blur. Rage pushed to the back of his mind, though not forgotten, the boy took a deep breath, focusing his mind and prodding at the power within his chest. It flared painfully at the suggestion and he sucked in a breath between his teeth. Yamato sent out encouraging pulses, it knew of the seal that Sparda had placed on both the boys in the womb to protect themselves and their mother from their own power. Vergil had broken that seal but didn't yet have control over the power that dwelled beyond it. The only way to control it was practice.

The half devil bit his lip, pushing at the power, ignoring the flare of pain and pushing harder, his tooth broke skin as he bit harder, every muscle in his body tense as he ignored the pain, finally there was flash of light that he saw even behind closed eyes as he let out a short yelp and then everything felt _different_. Vergil opened his eyes again, the world seemed brighter, smells sharper, sounds more crisp. He took a slow breath, releasing his lip from noticeably sharper teeth, and looked at his hands once again. Tiny black scales and neat short claws greeted him instead of soft human skin and ragged nails. He sucked in his breath in surprise, looking down at his body and finding a mix of blue and black scales coating him from head to toe. He turned and looked in the mirror, glowing blue eyes staring back from his reflection. The young devil looked under his arm clumsily upon noticing the wings that hung limply from his back, banging against the wall as he wasn't used to the extra appendages.

"Ow…" he mumbled, surprising himself with the sound of his own voice, it carried a strange echo in this form. Though the bump to the wall answered the question if he could feel the wings attached to his back.

"Anthony?" Madeline knocked on the door and the young devil froze, his mind frantically trying to figure out how to change back. She couldn't find him like this, his mom had always told him and Dante to hide their demonic natures around normal people because they would hate them if they didn't. "Is everything okay in there?" He paused, he couldn't answer like this either, before he could figure out how to force the change back the power had faded enough on its own, his body changing back to his human form. He sighed and looked at the closed door.

"I'm fine."

"Okay, hurry up though, you should get some sleep, we'll be going back to the police station tomorrow." Vergil nodded

"Okay." He heard her receding footsteps and sighed, that was way too close. He'd have to be more careful from now on, but he needed to practice, to get stronger so nothing could hurt him and so he could find his brother again, Yamato hummed in agreement.

-The Boy in Blue-

Madeline looked worriedly at the door as she walked away, she didn't know what that poor boy had been through and part of her was sure that she never would know. He was tighter than a clam and she was fairly sure he was in shock on top of everything else. The social workers had said that he wasn't injured, at least not physically but with all of that blood, it was almost hard to believe that there wasn't a scratch on him. She shook her head, there was something odd about him that was for sure, though it could be the trauma. The young woman sighed as she walked into the kitchen. Making a cup of coffee probably wasn't the worst idea she could be having right now. She was sure that Anthony would wake up at some point or not be able to sleep at all now that the adrenaline and following exhaustion was wearing off, the situation had to be sinking in now.

She had just started into the third chapter of her book when a much cleaner looking Anthony walked into the room. The clothes he was wearing were way too big but at least they were clean. Madeline was surprised to see that his hair really was white under all the blood that had been staining it. It fluffed up a little, still clearly damp but nearly hung into his eyes, he needed a haircut, she thought to herself, smiling softly.

"You tired?" she asked, he shook his head in response. "Me neither." She crinkled her nose and he just blinked at her, giving nothing away.

"You hungry?" she tried again, another shake of the head "Thirsty?" she received a shrug to this. Taking it as close to a yes as she was going to get, Madeline stood and walked into the kitchen, pulling a cup from the cupboard.

"What do you want?" he paused, blue eyes thoughtful

"Something warm." She turned back to the cupboard, smiling, finally, getting somewhere.

A/N: Slightly strange place to leave off but eh…? I like this so far. Also, my roommate's dyeing my hair for Trish :3 Youma's so close I can taste it!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	5. Talking

A/N: Soooooo… I'm starting to get worried because my boyfriend said he would meet me somewhere and he's well… not there… so yeah…I'm starting to freak out a little.

Disclaimer: Don't have time for that.

L: I'm glad you like it so far, here's the next chapter so you can stop being anxious :p Thanks for the review

Talking

"Do you like tea?" Madeline asked, Anthony nodded again and she smiled encouragingly "What kind do you like?" he thought for a moment

"Mint." He said "Or green tea." His face had softened for a moment and for a second Madeline thought she saw the ghost of a smile and then it was gone, replaced by a contemplative frown. She turned back to the cupboard and pulled out the ingredients necessary to make the tea

"How about mint, it'll help you sleep." She suggested and she saw him worry his lip slightly

"I don't think I can." He whispered

"You should still try."

"I'll see her again…"

"See who?"

"My mom." The words were barely audible and instantly Madeline regretted asking but then thought better of it, he was going to have to tell the police anyway, might as well get the story rolling now, it'll make it easier for him later.

"What happened Anthony?" she whispered, kneeling down to face him, the mug with the stoking leaves in hand.

"She… she died… he killed her…" he choked slightly, clearly fighting back a lump in his throat. The brunette's eyes widened, she knew there had been a fire, she thought that it had all been an accident, terrible but an accident all the same. Now though, were they really dealing with a murder…?

"Who killed her…?" Anthony just shook his head

"I woke up and she was dead…" tears were flowing freely down his face now. Madeline set the mug back on the counter and pulled the boy into her arms, holding him tightly into her shoulder.

"It'll be okay…." She said softly, petting his hair as he cried.

-The Boy in Blue-

It was a little while later that Vergil started to feel the sobs start to subside, his mind starting to calm, to clear up enough to think properly. Madeline pulled back from him, her brown eyes filled with worry as she searched his own.

"You okay?" she asked, he nodded, she didn't even know him that well, she didn't need to be worrying after him.

"I'm fine." He croaked, surprised by how hoarse his voice was. Madeline smiled softly at him, she clearly didn't believe him but that didn't matter. Who knew how long he'd be here anyway?

"Well, your tea's cold, I'll make another mug, go sit on the couch, I'll come over when it's done. Vergil nodded at her and walked the short distance to the couch, clambering up onto it and flopping back against the cushions. He could hear her bumbling around in the kitchen, there was a thump and a muffled curse and he shook his head, humans… he looked around himself; Ricardo was still passed out on the other couch and there were several books on the few coffee tables around the room. He bent forward and picked up the one in front of himself, it had been laid down open to a page and the young half devil marked it with a finger before flipping back to the beginning before starting to read.

When Madeline walked back around the corner the last thing she expected to see was Anthony sitting on the couch, reading her book.

"What are you doing?" she asked in surprise, Anthony looked up at her as though there was nothing strange about this.

"I'm reading." He said calmly and she opened and closed her mouth several times in shock.

"But that's… that's…" He just tilted his head to the side curiously. "That's a Stephen King novel… you… you're what, six?" she was trying to gauge his height though that was hard to do while he was sitting.

"I'm ten." He said matter of factly, he's small for his age, she thought to herself, looking him up and down again.

"Still, you shouldn't be reading that." She said, she was still surprised that he'd even picked the book up, it didn't seem like something that a ten year old should be reading.

"Why?"

"Be-…because…" she sighed and sat down next to the boy, setting the mug of tea on the coffee table in front of them and looked over his shoulder, surprised to see that the kid was a good fifteen pages in, she'd only been making the tea for a minute or so…

"I like reading, it was on the coffee table." Was his simple explanation. She sighed and shook her head

"So you like to read." She asked and Anthony nodded, flipping to the next page. It was quiet for a few minutes, occasionally she would look over his shoulder to see where he was, surprised at how fast the boy could read. Eventually she found herself looking him over, he was small, though not unhealthy, his skin was pale, as were his eyes and hair.

"Is your hair really white?" she asked, running her fingers through a few strands, looking closely at it, trying to tell if it was really just a pale blonde.

"Yes." He moved his head from the reach of her fingers and she grinned softly, he did that so naturally, not even getting distracted from his place in the book, it must've been a common thing for his reading to be interrupted.

"Is it dyed?" Anthony paused and looked at her, confused

"No." He was about to go back to reading

"Did it turn white?" She thought that perhaps it had turned white from some horrific experience.

"No, my dad's hair was white." That was his only response before turning back to the book. Madeline looked at the boy in surprise, that was a weird genetic quirk to pass on, she shook her head and went back to reading over his shoulder until he finally fell asleep.

A/N: I feel bad for Vergil, he's just trying to forget his worries in a book, trying to ignore all the bad stuff… :( poor kid.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	6. Not Strong Enough

A/N: Hey guys, another week another chapter, aka, I'm sitting in Adam's room typing on a Sunday afternoon again. Taking a break from homework just to sit and type, yup… anywho, I'll get on with that chapter now ^^;

Disclaimer: Vergil doesn't even have his own game (which is sad), why do you think I own him?

Not Strong Enough

Vergil woke up the next morning, well truthfully he jolted awake when he was pierced through again in his dream. It was something that he just couldn't help but keep thinking about, and no matter how much his conscious mind tried to push it off, his subconscious just kept bringing it back up, he kept reliving that moment over and over again in his dreams, turning and seeing his mother dying next to him. The young half devil bit his lip, curling in on himself, trying to fight down the choked sobs and the tears burning at his eyes. He needed to be stronger, stronger to be able to protect himself, stronger to be able to find Dante, stronger to be able to protect the little bit of family he had left, stronger to get revenge on the monster that had done this to them. His mind refused to acknowledge the idea that Dante might have perished in that fire as well, he would know, he would be able to tell if Dante was gone, be able to feel it. At least that's what he told himself. He bit his lip harder, skin breaking and the sharp taste of blood leaking onto his tongue. Vergil swallowed and rubbed at his eyes, trying to shake off the doubts and fears of his nightmares and stepped onto the cold floor.

He looked out the window, the sky was a very pale blue, the color of a cold dawn, it would only get colder from here. The half devil sighed and then closed his eyes, focusing on the aura of the ancient katana within him, calling upon it. It appeared in his hands, sized to his small frame and he took stance and then slowly, extremely slowly, walked through each of the kata he knew and then into freeform, each movement working into the next one and then the next, speeding up with each step until the blade and its wielder were a blur of rapid movement. Vergil was careful to not move his blade too quickly, not to put too much power into it so that the wind from the blade didn't knock anything from the shelves, he knew he was strong but it wasn't strong enough. The strike was off balance, the blade nicked into the floor and the half devil stumbled, fists clenching around the hilt of the katana as he resisted the urge to slam his fist into the wall in frustration.

"It's not enough…" he growled, his anger interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Anthony?" it was Madeline's voice, the half devil nearly growled again, he'd only been here for one night and this woman already had a knack for interrupting him, not as bad as Dante but she was getting there.

"Yeah?" he asked, Yamato dissipating in a small stream of light.

"Breakfast is ready, we have to go back to the police station in a bit, can you be ready soon?" she asked and Vergil sighed

"Yes." He heard her footsteps receding and true to her word, the smell of eggs tickled at his nose and caused his stomach to growl loudly. He sighed again and pulled on the clothes that had been set out for him last night, heading into the bathroom to wash his face and teeth.

Once cleaned up the half devil went downstairs only to find that Madeline wasn't the only one in the kitchen, Laurie and Ricardo were there too, both nursing cups of steaming coffee.

"How are you feeling?" Madeline asked, Laurie glared at him. Vergil met the glare evenly, not in the slightest bit offput.

"Fine." He said quietly, taking the plate offered to him and sitting at the table and eating quickly, surprised at the hunger that plagued him. He could feel everyone's eyes on him but ignored them, he wouldn't be here long anyway.

-The Boy in Blue-

It was a quiet and rather long ride to the police station but Vergil didn't mind, he enjoyed the silence and the scenery flashing by, it was normal, mundane, and calmed his frayed nerves. He could tell that Madeline didn't like it though, she shifted uncomfortably in her seat until she finally coughed and said.

"You know they're going to ask you a lot of questions."

"I know."

"About what happened to your house, to your mom…" she said and Vergil met her quick glance away from the road with even eyes

"I know." He said, it hurt deep in his chest to think about the fact that his mother was gone and never coming back. The place he grew up was forever gone as well, his nest, his sibling… all gone… he took a deep breath, he could do this.

"It's okay to cry you know." She said and the half devil winced, that was something that his mom always used to tell him, that it was okay to cry, that crying was something that only humans did, that it was a sign that he was human at heart.

"I know." The words were the barest thread of a whisper. It's all he could manage around the lump in his throat.

Madeline looked over at her charge, he looked like he was on the verge of tears now, though moments before when she had been reminding him that he was going to have to talk about what happened, he had been as calm as a cucumber. What had she said? Did he feel like he needed permission to let out his tears, his feelings? The poor boy had been through far too much in the past day, maybe it was all finally sinking in…

A/N: Damn, poor Verge… though I feel like we're starting to see the beginnings of the power craze that boy has…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	7. Truth and Lies

A/N: Hey everybody, sitting here at nearly nine in the morning and typing away, god I have so much to get done… *sighs* but hey, I can do it right? I have my next interview with Denso tomorrow so we'll see how that goes, got my fingers crossed for it, it seems like a good co-op and it'd help me get my foot in the door for engineering.

Disclaimer: I'm an engineer, not a game designer.

Truth and Lies

Mark blinked at the couple of people standing outside the door of the station, he'd read the report that his coworker had left but he hadn't quite believed it, it just seemed to farfetched, more like the ravings of an overtired officer than an actual report. A boy with white hair and covered in blood showing up in the dead of the night with practically no records in the system, none that they could get anything from anyway. But here he was, minus the blood, looking up at him with eyes that gave away nothing.

"Uh, come in," he said, he knew that there was a social worker on their way now, to help sort out this whole mess. The woman smiled at him politely

"Thank you," she said, allowing the boy to go first and following him through the waiting room and into the back where a comfortable couch rested for situations like this, when someone had experienced tragedy and needed a warm looking place to talk rather than the cold emptiness of the interrogation rooms. The boy climbed up onto the couch, geez he was scrawny, Mark thought to himself as he observed the boy, did he even understand what was going on? He could only be what, six? Seven maybe?

"How old are you kid?" he asked the boy who looked at him with eyes so blue they could put ice to shame.

"Ten." He said and the officer blinked in surprise, he was not expecting him to be that old, he's small for his age, he thought, noting it down on a blank sheet of paper, might as well get some of the general questions out of the way, he knew some of the things that the social worker would certainly ask, it'd be easier to get right into the thick of things.

"What's your name?"

"Anthony Redgrave." He said smoothly, it matched up with the name that Josh had left on his report, so at least the kid wasn't lying about that, that or he was a really, really good liar.

"Alright Anthony, I'm Officer Mark, nice to meet you." The boy nodded in a likewise fashion. "Do you go by Tony or…?" he trailed off when the boy flinched, both he and the woman who had brought him in looked at one another, that wasn't something that could be just a twitch.

"No," he said quietly "I go by Anthony." He assured, ignoring his violent reaction completely and Mark sighed, not wanting to push the issue, kids weren't his strong suite.

"Okay Anthony, where do you live?" the boy listed the address of the burned house that he had last night, they still had people trying to comb through the remains of the building, see if there was anything there to find. All they had found so far was a corpse and the burnt skeleton of a house.

"Okay…" he hesitated, unsure of what else he should ask, he should probably wait for the social worker so he would know what was okay to ask the kid. The pause stretched on uncomfortably until the woman spoke up.

"Officer Mark, do you have any coffee brewed up, it's been a long night and I could certainly use the caffeine." He smiled at her appreciatively, he needed the save.

"I do, follow me, Anthony, do you mind waiting here for a minute?" the boy nodded softly, not even phased about being left on his own. The officer thought that was strange, he thought that a kid who had just been separated from his mother would want to cling to the nearest people but this kid… he shook his head and walked around the corner to the coffee machine. Once out of earshot he asked the woman, Madeline if he was remembering her name correctly,

"Has he talked about it?" Madeline made a face

"Not really, there was a moment last night, he said something about someone killing his mother but I couldn't get him to elaborate, I didn't want to push him either. He didn't sleep well last night, I even put a couple children's Benadryl into his tea." The officer blinked in surprise and Madeline smiled

"My mom used to do that to my sister and I when we were sick or especially anxious, knocked us right out." She looked back the way they had come "I kept hearing him wake up though, sometimes shouting…sometimes screaming…"

"But he won't talk about it?" he asked and Madeline shook her head

"I don't think can yet, I think he's still processing it himself."

"It's a lot for a ten year old to handle." He said as he poured the coffee into two cups.

-The Boy in Blue-

Though the pair of them didn't know it, Vergil heard every word exchanged, one of the bonuses of being part devil, though it didn't feel like it right now. They must think I'm stupid, he thought to himself, leaning back and crossing his arms, looking around the office. It wasn't so much that he didn't want to talk about what had happened, it was that he couldn't. His mom had always told him and Dante to not talk about their powers, about their dad, about devils in general, around other people. It wasn't an easy secret to keep but before this he had always had Dante to talk to, sure they didn't always get along but at the end of the day Dante was his brother, his twin and he cared about him. But now… now he didn't know where the other half of him was.

His head snapped up when the door swung open and a heavier, stern looking woman, walked in the door. She was wearing a smile to mask the grouchiness but the young half devil could see it in her brow and the set of her shoulders.

"Hi there," she squatted to be on level with the couch and Vergil wrinkled a lip in distaste "I'm Susie, what's your name?"

A/N: slightly weird place to leave off, I know but hey, gotta do it somewhere, plus class is about to start ^^;

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	8. Distaste

A/N: Hey guys! Been a busy day so far… lots of homework… *sighs* but hey, what can you do, at least we're gonna have venison steak fajitas tonight :3 super stoked, stomach is also rumbling but I figured this is a better way to pass my health class than actually paying attention ;p

Disclaimer: Yup, nope.

Distaste

Vergil resisted the urge to lift his lip in disgust, this woman did think he was an idiot, that much he was sure of.

"Anthony." He said flatly, keeping eye contact until she blinked and broke the gaze, he could tell she was slightly unsettled by his flat gaze.

"That's a nice name, how are you doing Anthony?" she asked, sitting down next to him and slouching over so that she was eye to eye with him, it made the young half devil feel younger than he was, she didn't have to talk down to him.

"Fine." He replied, his tone still short, he didn't want to talk to her, he looked off to the side, feeling the comforting pulse of Yamato within his mind, it fed his anger, nourishing the flame, Vergil quickly tried to squash it, it did him no good to be angry right now.

"It's okay to talk Anthony." She said, squatting back off the couch, trying to make eye contact again, he glared at her.

"I know."

"You can talk to me you know." Susie pressed, Vergil caught a glimpse of Madeline and Mark standing just at the edge of his peripheral vision and he looked back at the social worker.

"Why." He said flatly and Susie blinked at him, surprised.

"Because it's not good to keep everything to yourself, it'll help us too, help us figure out what happened to your mom, your house." Vergil felt his shoulders tense up, thinking back to the smell of blood, the feeling of adrenalin in his veins, the sight of demons falling beneath his mother's smoking guns, hearing their death screams as he joined the fray and how futile it had been, despite how hard he had fought he just hadn't… hadn't been strong enough.

"Anthony?" he heard and he sighed and looked back up to see Madeline calling his adoptive name.

"Are you okay honey?" Susie asked, pulling his attention back to her and increasing his irritation.

"I'm fine." He said again, clenching his hands into fists, this wasn't like him, he didn't lose control over his emotions, that was Dante, he had to be the strong one, had to keep it together.

"Anthony." Madeline put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her, she looked worried and he looked back to the social worker.

"What happened?" Susie asked, and Anthony blinked, trying to think of what was okay to say. What wasn't going to reveal him?

"Some people came…" he paused "they… they killed my mom…" he said, fighting off tears as he thought of the moment… when that pain had struck his chest, when he had seen the light fade from his mother's eyes. The young half devil bit his lip.

"How, what happened?" he was prodded gently. He could see the officer and the social worker both taking notes on what happened.

"I… I didn't see much… I was hiding, my mom told me to hide, I did." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

"Do you know why she told you to hide?" Vergil shook his head

"She just said there were bad people coming and that I needed to hide."

"Did you see the men?" this was the police officer, Vergil just shook his head, it wasn't a lie, he had seen no men but monsters instead.

"What happened next?" Now the social worker, she seemed to think that he would keep talking if she kept prodding gently, but the young half devil wanted to get out of this web of lies sooner rather than later, the less he had to remember for his story, the better.

"I came out of hiding and my mom… there was so much smoke, it made my head hurt." He said, though he didn't remember the fire, just laying there on the floor, feeling very, very cold… Madeline put a hand on his shoulder and he took comfort from the gesture, it reminded him of his mother, she used to do the same thing, often when trying to calm him and his brother, keep them from fighting so much.

"Just one more question for now Anthony." Susie said, the half devil could tell that she wanted to go over the information she had with the officer. He nodded, wanting to get out of this office too.

"Do you have a brother?" she asked and Vergil used everything he had not to flinch at the question.

"No…" he said, trying to tilt his voice up in a questioning way.

"Didn't have one when you were little or anything?" she asked Vergil shook his head, knitting his eyebrows together in what he hoped was a confused manner.

"Alright, I'm done for now, I won't bother you for a little while." She smiled though it did little to make the boy feel any better. She stood and gestured for the other adults in the room to follow her.

-The Boy in Blue-

In the break room she heaved a big breath of air.

"We've got our work cut out for us with this one." She said, looking at the notes in her hand. "He's lying but about what or how much, I don't know, he could just be afraid of what happened and not want to talk about it. We're still trying to make heads or tails of the records, whatever his mother was involved in, she knew what she was doing, it makes me scared for the little guy." She looked to Madeline "Do you mind keeping him for a little while longer? He seems fairly attached to you, he might just trust you enough to talk to you, let me know if he does?" Madeline nodded

"I can do that." Susie gave a tired smile

"Thank you, now I'd like to get him into a doctors office, we have no idea what his medical records are, or where or if they just burned with the house, we've found some school records so chances are good there are some medical ones somewhere but with how small he is and, is his hair naturally that color?" she asked and Madeline nodded

"He told me it was, said it's been that way his whole life." Susie made another note on her sheet,

"I wouldn't be surprised if there's some underlying medical issues, try and make an appointment for him please?"

"That's no problem."

"I know you said you weren't planning on staying in town for much longer but…"

"I don't mind," Madeline interrupted with a smile "It'll be my pleasure to help out."

A/N: Not a terribly exciting chapter but, I hope it's at least a little interesting?

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	9. Avoiding Appointments

A/N: Hey guys, I know, it's been a little while, I've been on break for Christmas and the new year but good news! I got a new job! I'm starting a co-op doing processing engineering at Denso! :3 I'm pretty excited, and I start soon so yay! Anywho, I just wanted some time to relax and enjoy the holidays, and start playing D&amp;D with some friends (which is hilariously fun), especially when you're a half orc barbarian and one of your companions is a twelve year old alcoholic tiefling warlock…

Disclaimer: The one who ones this is not I.

Avoiding Appointments

Vergil hid under the blankets the next day when Madeline came upstairs to get him. He didn't want to go to the doctors. He'd never been before, at least, not that he could remember, but he did know that his mom always lied about whether he and Dante had actually been.

"Come on Anthony, we need to go." She said, shaking his shoulder softly, Vergil grumbled and tried to ignore her, and for all his capacity to ignore people, it wasn't going well.

"No," he mumbled, curling tighter up into a ball "I don't want to." Madeline sighed and looked to the ceiling. She'd heard of kids being difficult about going to the doctor and Laurie had certainly been so but this was a little ridiculous. She shook him a little harder and the white haired kid made a low grumbling sound, still insistent on staying in bed.

"Anthony." She said flatly, pulling the blanket off from the top of him. He flinched, curling up tighter and glaring at her from beneath an arm. She sat next to his small frame and started rubbing his back, trying to get his blood moving.

"Why don't you want to go?" she asked, hoping that maybe if she knew the reason, perhaps she'd be able to convince him it was necessary to go. He looked at her again before sitting up and sighing.

"I just don't like going." He said flatly, Madeline smiled

"None of us do." She replied "Come on, we can go out shopping and buy you some new clothes when we get out, I'll let you pick." She was trying everything she could think of to get this kid to do what he needed to. Most of the time he would be fairly cooperative and quiet, so this was a side of the boy she'd never seen. He grumbled but finally stood, Madeline smiled.

"I'll wait for you downstairs."

-The Boy in Blue-

The appointment went far smoother than Vergil was expecting, they really only tested a few things and asked him a bunch of questions about his family. He could answer honestly about his mom but had no idea what to say about his dad, he mostly just made things up and answered as simply as he could, telling the man upfront that his dad had been gone for a long time. He still remembered that last moment he had seen his father, that look he'd given them before he flew off to protect them.

As they left Madeline asked gently

"Do you even remember your father?" Vergil nodded, choosing not to answer further than that. The car fell silent until they reached the mall, he followed Madeline inside and around as she oohed and aahhed over varying pieces of clothes, trying to coax a reaction out of him. He wanted to smile, it reminded him of times when he'd been focused on trying to practice his swordsmanship and Dante had been trying to get him to play with him.

At one point, after asking him to choose between two options again, Madeline started laughing.

"What?" the young half devil asked and his caretaker just kept laughing. He grumbled and she shook her head.

"It's just that every time I've asked you to pick between two options you keep picking the blue one." Vergil crossed his arms

"I like the color blue." He said rather defensively and Madeline just smiled at him.

"I understand, I like that color too." She said, ruffling his hair, Vergil huffed and went to fix it, pushing it out of his eyes as best he could. Madeline watched this and said

"Do you like to spike your hair?" Vergil blinked and looked at her

"I've never tried." He said, looking between his eyes at some of the white strands

"C'mon, I'll get you some hair gel and you can try it." Vergil looked up at her and said

"Why are you doing this for me?" she looked at him carefully

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm just going to be gone soon anyway, why are you doing this for me?" the young half devil felt Yamato echo the feelings in the back of his mind, he didn't need the kindness from these people. He needed to be strong, to be able to stand on his own. Madeline gave a small smile, it looked to him almost like she was pitying him, he scowled.

"Because. It's the right thing to do." She said, ruffling his hair once more and continuing to shop. He followed behind, feeling dissatisfied with that answer.

-The Boy in Blue-

Once back at the cottage Madeline helped him put the new clothes away and then took him into the bathroom and showed him how to spike his hair. Once she was done he looked in the mirror.

"Do you like it?" she asked and Vergil turned his head from side to side, inspecting the effect. It kept his hair out of his eyes and he appreciated being able to look in the mirror and not be reminded of his brother immediately.

"Yes."

A/N: Well that's just a little shy of length but I felt like that was too good of a place to leave off, poor Vergil, he still feels hurt and broken and is super wary of people because of it. I can't wait to do the next chapter, it's gonna be exciting :3

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	10. Power Surge

A/N: Hey guys, back to typing again, cause I have a lot more time between classes than I originally anticipated… I have like two hours and my first class let out early and so yeah… I'm gonna type now cause I did my duty and socialized a little bit with my friend :p

Disclaimer: Own it, I do not

Ras144: I don't know if you read this one too but thanks so much for the kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed the last one. Thanks for the review!

Power Surge

Vergil spent the remainder of the day putzing around the house before he felt comfortable enough to just go back up in his room and close the door. Once inside he summoned Yamato to his side and took stance, working through his own personal training regimen until he heard Madeline knock on his door to get ready for bed. He put on his pajamas and prepared for bed before summoning the sword once more and going right back into the last stance he'd been in. The young half devil finished with a long sigh and then sat down to meditate, it helped him clear his head, his mom had taught both himself and Dante how to do it after a particularly bad fight and she was very, _very _done with their shenanigans. He left Yamato at his side, it helped to be more alone within his own mind instead of sharing it with the ancient katana, he was still connected to the blade but less than when it was within him. The ten year old crossed his legs and let himself relax, which wasn't something he did often but it was a necessary evil every so often. He would lose himself to his emotions if he didn't calm down every once in a while. Vergil did the best he could to empty his mind, but there was still the deep-rooted sadness that clung to his consciousness.

It hung there, reminding the half devil that he was so very, very alone in the world, no mother, no father, no brother… he had come into this world with many and now, such a short time later he was alone, completely…

-The Boy in Blue-

Madeline was winding down herself, just about ready to switch off the TV and go to bed when she heard a scream from upstairs. She knew it was Anthony, there was rarely a night that he slept through completely, he seemed to be haunted by recent events and the woman couldn't blame him. She ascended the stairs slowly, each time the boy had nightmares she would go up and comfort him. She wasn't even sure that he knew she had, he usually didn't wake up, crying out for his mother in his sleep, it wrenched her heart in two. She assumed that this time would be the same, but upon opening the door and seeing an otherworldly light shining from a sword on the floor she thought she must've just fallen asleep on the couch. Anthony's hand reached for it in his sleep, though he was curled around himself as though he were in pain. Madeline pinched herself when the otherworldly light wrapped around the boy's arm and the sword disappeared. Sadly she wasn't dreaming, at least as far as she could tell. As soon as the sword was gone Anthony curled up tighter, his arms wrapped around himself, shaking. His caretaker took a step closer, unsure of what to do but feeling as though she needed to help.

Upon closer inspection she noticed that he wasn't just shaking, he was shaking so bad and so fast that he almost appeared to be buzzing in place. Anthony bit his lip harshly and there was a spark of blue-white lightning and his entire body rippled, for half a second appearing to be something completely different and then it was over, he lay on the floor, almost peaceful. Madeline herself was shaking as she reached a hand forward and rubbed his shoulder. Anthony sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, for a moment seeming entirely like the ten year old boy he was.

"What…?" he mumbled, blinking blearily at her, not quite seeming to register the scared look in the older woman's eyes.

"You… you were dreaming and… there was a sword and…" she took a deep breath, trying to keep track of her own thoughts though everything seemed really scattered "You were glowing." She said finally, Anthony's eyes widened and that was the moment that it really sank in that this was no dream, that this was really happening. Anthony looked at his hands before touching the center of his chest.

"Anthony?" she said softly, he refused to meet her eyes and she sighed "Anthony what was that?" he shook his head, clearly unwilling to share.

"Anthony you were screaming in your sleep. Not to mention glowing. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

"I can't tell you." He said quietly but firmly

"Why not?"

"My mom told us not to." It was the first time that she heard him say 'us' instead of 'me'. He was tired and scared and it caused him to slip up, he seemed to notice too as he winced.

"Who's us? What can't you tell people?" she assumed that his mother had told him not to tell anyone, not just nearly middle aged women. Nosy women. She amended herself, though she felt the nosiness was justified in this case.

"Nobody. Nothing." He grumbled, rising slowly to his feet and turning his back to her. She reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure she told you that to protect you, but she's not here to protect you anymore," it hurt her to remind him that his mother was gone "I can't help protect you if I don't know what's going on." She said softly. Anthony shook his head.

"You can't protect me."

"Sure I can."

"No you can't. You're not strong enough." He said stubbornly, Madeline furrowed her brows, this wasn't the kind of response she was expecting, though with what she'd just witnessed she wasn't sure what she was expecting at all. So she grinned and said

"So I'll just have to get stronger." Anthony shook his head again.

"You can't."

"Why not?" she pressed. Too far it seemed as Anthony whirled around, anger flaring in his pale eyes and snapped

"Because you're human!"

A/N: Hehehehe! Ohhhh I like this chapter, this is fun cause Vergil doesn't have that iron exterior built up yet, he's a kid, he makes mistakes, he slips up, it's fun to write him as the flawed and broken kid that he currently is.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	11. Admittance

A/N: Hey sup guys, I'm currently enjoying the end of MLKJr day (no classes for college students :) and decided I should do at least _some _typing for next week, though I have no big plans for the rest of this week beyond starting my new job! :) Anywho I'll get onto that chapter where I'm sure I'll torment poor Vergil some more :p

Disclaimer: I don't even own a poster of Vergil

Admittance

"What?" Madeline said softly, looking deep into the young boy's eyes, she was confused, what on earth did that mean?

"I…" Anthony seemed to realize what he'd just said and that he hadn't meant to say it in the slightest "I don't know." He said softly, going to turn around again but Madeline put a hand on his shoulder.

"Why does it matter that I'm human? So are you." She said. She noticed that when she said it his eyes averted away from her, there was something about that statement that made him uncomfortable.

"I…" he didn't want to look at her, so instead he stared at his toes, hoping that he'd be able to make the fear go away. He took a deep breath and then looked up at his current caretaker, deciding then and there that telling her would be more beneficial than continuing to try and hide it. "It's because I'm not." He said. Madeline just looked confused so he sighed and spoke again

"I'm not entirely human." He repeated

"What?" Madeline asked, staring at her charge in confusion and worry. What did he think he was? Did he make something up just to account for the loss of his family? Then her mind flicked back to the glowing, maybe he was telling the truth…

"My mom was human." He said softly and then looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath and summoning Yamato. Madeline jumped backward startled beyond all belief and put a hand over her mouth so she didn't yell too loud. "My father was a powerful demon." He set the katana on the floor as to not terrify Madeline too much and the woman swallowed audibly.

"W-what…? Anthony… how did you do that…?" Vergil looked at the ancient weapon

"It's a devil arm," he explained "I'm connected to it, it does what I bid it to, I can keep it within myself for safekeeping." He picked it up and slid it back into its resting place beside his arm. He wasn't sure exactly why it chose that place to reside but it was easy enough for the young half devil to keep track of that he never questioned it too much.

"But… devils don't exist…" Madeline said, her voice barely above a whisper. She nearly flinched, her mind urging her to run when Anthony's eyes flashed a bright, _glowing, _green and he said

"Are you so sure?" with that he turned away, seeming to not know what else to do, he was a little kid again, small and vulnerable and in need of help.

"Anthony… your mother… what actually happened?" she was certain that it had to do with his heritage, it would definitely explain why he was so hesitant to talk about it.

"She… wasn't strong enough… neither was I… there was a demon… a powerful demon who wanted to hurt our family… he killed us… I didn't expect to wake up though…" Madeline thought that perhaps he was just confused on his pronouns, that he was hurt and scared and nervous to talk about what had happened. In the back of her mind she decided that it didn't matter what this kid's genetics were, he needed her help, even if they sat well beyond the realm of extraordinary.

"Us…?" she prodded, Anthony nodded in response, a hand over his chest. He often rubbed that spot, like an old wound…

"We heal fast… but… I didn't think… It hurt so bad…" he bit his lip and clenched his small fists, trying very hard not to cry. "He shot us… both of us…" Madeline's eyes were wide in horror. That wasn't a revelation she saw coming. He had been shot in the chest? At first her mind tried to rationalize it, but she had seen him change, there was no wound there, not even a scar. She pulled the boy into a hug without a second thought. He flinched at the motion, he was still shaking slightly, from what emotion, she wasn't sure. "I didn't think that I'd wake up… and see my mom…" she could hear the lump in his throat as he tried to swallow past it.

"It'll be okay Anthony." She said, holding him tighter, trying to contain the tremors, trying to help him calm down. She stroked his hair slowly, and eventually the tremors slowed and stopped and his breathing began to calm. She stayed that way for a few moments longer before letting him go and holding his shoulders, looking into eyes that glistened with unshed tears.

"She died because I wasn't strong enough to protect her." He said, there was an anger in his voice that Madeline had never heard in a child before "I wasn't strong enough then but I promise… I swear that I'll make him pay for the pain he's caused my family." The last couple of words were more growl than anything and the older woman didn't like the otherworldly light that crept into his eyes. So she did what she could to take his mind off of it; she ruffled his hair and smiled at him when he looked at her in confusion.

"We can talk about if vengeance is the right thing in the morning, but for right now, you need to get some sleep." Anthony was about to open his mouth in protest when she shushed him solidly, picking up the squirming boy and setting him down on the bed with a grunt.

"Ah ah, sleep." She pointed at the pillow. The boy grumbled something under his breath and finally lay down. Madeline smiled and stroked his hair one last time before leaving the room.

Once outside of it she closed the door, her heart hammering a million miles a minute in her chest as all the information that had been laid out in front of her finally started to sink in.

"Oh god… what've I gotten myself into…?"

A/N: I like this :) and Madeline is taking things shockingly well considering the circumstances.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	12. Lessons

A/N: Hey guys! So sorry about the late update today, it was a busy week last week and this weeks no better but I'm trying to manage my time a little better ^^; So this chapter is a little later in the day but I hope that's alright, either way, I'll shut up and start

Disclaimer: Engineer, not game designer

Lessons

Madeline woke up the next morning wondering if she had simply imagined all that had happened the night before but the look in Anthony's eyes when he came downstairs, the wariness that stood in them, confirmed it to her. He was wary of her, he thought that she might reject him, turn him away because of what he was. It made her wonder, what else had this little boy been through in his short life. She made no comment as she got breakfast around for the two of them, she was happy that she had gotten some time off work in between her transfer, it was what made her decide to come here in the first place. She wondered what might've happened to Anthony had she not been there that night when he'd wandered to the police station. When the toast finally popped up she snagged it and her coffee mug and shuffled over to the table. Anthony looked about as tired as she felt, staring down the orange juice he'd poured with a vengeance, as though all his problems rested with it.

"So," she broke the silence and the boy nearly jumped out of his seat, and she couldn't help the small smile that snuck onto her face. He looked toward her grouchily, a look she decided to ignore "if you're part demon, how come you look human, except for the whole glowing thing." The woman amended, handing off some of the toast and offering the cream cheese, both of which the young half devil accepted gratefully.

"First of all, I'm part devil, not demon." He said quietly

"What's the difference?" Madeline asked as though this were ordinary breakfast conversation and not something out of this world. Anthony glanced at her exasperatedly, like her she had asked him what color the sky was. "I'm sorry, I'm not exactly versed in the lore of the underworld." She teased, Anthony looked back to his toast.

"Devils are intelligent, have a mind and will of their own, demons are mindless beasts, seeking out only their own pleasures and needs. Though many times you can use the two terms pretty interchangeably, at least that's what I've noticed." He mumbled at the end

"How do you know all this? Did your dad teach you?" she asked, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up as she thought of the prospect of running into this kid's father, he could still be out there for all she knew.

"He did when I was little, but… he's gone now…" Anthony bit his lip "He left to protect us." He added before she could ask, he looked up at her before continuing "After he left I would read his old books but… some of the languages I'm not very good at. I was still practicing when…" he trailed off and Madeline realized that he was thinking back to his mother

"Languages?" she asked, trying to pull his mind from the topic, he took a bite of his toast and nodded, swallowing it before grumbling out something that the woman assumed was an example but she couldn't even discern words, let alone what they meant. The half devil took a drink and said

"Demonic languages, my dad taught me and… mom when I was little, but there's a bunch of them that I don't know, some of them I can read but I don't know how to make the sounds. I wish I did though…"

"That's…" Madeline puffed her cheeks out as she thought about it "wow… you taught yourself?" she asked and Anthony nodded, she whistled and shook her head. "I thought it was cool that I could introduce myself in Spanish but… jeez…" Anthony blushed slightly at her amazement, looking very pointedly at his breakfast.

"I just like to read, I like to learn things." He said to the second piece of toast. Madeline grinned at his sudden shyness

"Did you go to school?" she asked and he nodded, she continued prodding gently "You must've liked it then huh?" he shook his head.

"I… other people are difficult." He said after a moment's contemplation. Madeline couldn't help it, she burst into laughter at the serious look on his face. It was a very true statement as the middle aged woman wasn't the most social herself but she didn't expect this kid, who was probably more intelligent and stronger than all of his classmates, to be shy and reserved. Anthony blushed harder and grumbled something under his breath as Madeline tried to regain her own.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect that." She said, still grinning hugely "Yeah, they are difficult, I've had my fair share of difficult people." The half devil was still grumbling but he had the smallest hints of a smile on his face. She took a drink of her coffee and then asked

"So you never said, why do you look human if you're half devil?" Anthony's eyes crossed as he tried to look at his hair "Do devils look human?" she continued, Anthony shook his head, swallowing his food before answering

"No, only the fact that they stand on two legs and have two arms. I don't know why I look human most of the time." He said, looking at his hands, she could tell that this was something that he'd thought about before.

"Most of the time?" Anthony nodded, closing his eyes and seeming to concentrate very hard, Madeline started to get worried when sparks of blue electricity flew off the boy's skin. She was about to say something when it completely covered him and then when it vanished, left something entirely different in its place.

A/N: Haha! I'm excited to do the next chapter now :3

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	13. Show and Tell

A/N: Hey guys, I might very well be typing this in my class… while learning about APA formatting… but I feel like getting started on this.

Disclaimer: Bah.

Show and Tell

Madeline was sure that her eyes were about to bug out of her head and she couldn't help the sharp gasp that escaped her. If she didn't know better she'd say that someone had come into the room and replaced the boy she'd been taking care of with a monster.

"A-anthony?" she whispered, the blue devil in front of her nodded. He was far beyond anything that Madeline ever would have imagined, long silver horns on either side of his head and small black wings twitched weakly on the sides of the chair. She took a deep breath and scooted her chair closer to him. Eyeing him up and down, taking it all in, she touched his shoulder and he twitched slightly, nervous and afraid.

"Can you fly?" she asked, looking around his back to see how his wings were attached to his body. Vergil shook his head before, lifting the small black wings to look at them himself, Madeline could see the strain it took for him to lift them from the chair

"They're too weak." He said, his voice very much distorted by the change, it sounded deeper, echoing strangely. Madeline nearly jumped at the sound but quickly masked it by looking at the wings herself.

"If they were stronger do you think you could?" she asked and Anthony nodded

"My dad could, I think I probably can too, if I try." There was a flash of light and Anthony was nothing more than a ten year old boy again, just as human as the rest of them, though he looked much more worn down now.

"Does it hurt to change?" she asked, she would make sure not to ask again if it did hurt him to alter his appearance. He thought about the question for a moment

"Not really, it did the first time but… now… now it's like stretching, it hurts a little bit but not bad." Madeline nodded, that was something she could relate to "It is tiring though, I can't hold onto it for very long." He said, looking down at his hands and flipping them over, the older woman could nearly see the same black scales and claws that had been there moments before.

"How many times have you done this now?" Anthony held up three fingers and Madeline's eyes widened

"Only three?!" she asked, utterly baffled, it had only been the third time and yet he'd done so with such confidence… as though having a completely different form didn't bother him in the slightest. Though, now that she thought about it, he'd grown up knowing that demons were very real and likely knowing what they looked like too.

"Yes, this time was the easiest though." He said simply, looking back down at his now empty plate "It seems to get easier with practice." Madeline sighed, holding the bridge of her nose with her fingers, how had she gotten roped into something so crazy again? When she looked back, Anthony was looking at her expectantly.

"I can help you practice if you want." She said with a small smile "I don't know much about demons or devils but I can certainly try to help you if you want to get stronger, or get better at all of this." Anthony gave her a small smile and then rose from the table, taking his plate over to the kitchen.

"I would like that." He said when he came back with more orange juice. Madeline smiled back at him and ruffled his hair as she got up to take care of her own things.

-The Boy in Blue-

It was a short time later when both of them had had the chance to get around for the day and they were both sitting in the small living room when Madeline suddenly sighed and closed her book. Vergil looked at her expectantly, he was still mildly wary of her but since telling her about his heritage he felt some trust growing in the back of his heart. Yamato warned him of the dangers that posed but he couldn't help it, he was young and wanted support from someone and this woman seemed willing to provide it. That didn't mean he still wasn't expecting sudden and rapid rejection but he wasn't surprised by her acceptance anymore either.

"So." She started but she didn't seem to know where to go with her thoughts and paused for a moment before continuing "Where do we start with all of this?" Vergil was pretty sure she was referring to her offer to help him practice control over his demonic change

"I should go back to the house and see if any of my dad's book survived the fire." He said quietly, he didn't want to go back there, didn't want to risk finding his brother's body by accident, didn't even want to be overwhelmed by the memories of that day, of that wretched day.

"Are you sure you want to go back there?" her eyes looked soft, like she felt for him in some way

"No but I need to…" he whispered, biting his lip and drawing support from the ancient katana within his mind.

"I'll see what I can do, they're still investigating there, trying to find out what happened."

"They won't figure it out."

"I know but they still have to try. By the way, there's something I have to talk to you about." Madeline put her book on the table and now Vergil was starting to get a little worried, she sounded serious

"I'm perfectly willing to continue to look after you, especially now that you've opened up to me in a way that I know was hard for you but social services have started asking if they should take you, they would put you in the system, you would probably end up in a foster family, do you want that?" she asked, Vergil looked at her with wide eyes

"No, can I stay with you?" she smiled at him again

"Of course."

A/N: Kind of an awkward place to leave off but eh?

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	14. A Place of Pain

A/N: One more chapter to go and then I'm all set through next week, which I'm going to need as I have two exams in that week ^^; Either way, let's get to it shall we?

Disclaimer: Nananananananana!

A Place of Pain

"There's one small thing though." Madeline said after telling Anthony that he could stay with her. His head snapped up so blue eyes met brown. "I can't stay here, so we'd have to move elsewhere, this is just a family cottage, we can come back here but I was in the midst of moving to Morris Island." She said, she could practically see the tension leak out of the young boy's body

"That's fine." He said simply, turning back to his book and before really getting back into it he said "Just as long as we can go back to the house first." Madeline nodded to that

"Like I said, I'll see what I can do."

-The Boy in Blue-

It was a few days later that the duo were finally allowed to visit the burned out house. Anthony was quiet the entire way there, looking out the window and Madeline could see the pain in his eyes every time she glanced in the rearview mirror.

"We don't have to do this." She said

"I do." Was his only response, she sighed and pulled into the long drive, there were only a few burnt out sides left standing of the house, it was just sad to see something like that. She could hear Anthony suck in his breath between his teeth behind her and she reached back, putting a hand on his knee as she pulled off to the side and put the car in park. Madeline could feel the small boy shaking in her grip, though from what emotion she had no idea. She'd only been taking care of the boy for a short while but she could already tell how passionate he was, he had an angry streak a mile wide too. She'd watched him train with his katana and get excessively angry after messing up just a few strikes. She got out of the car and walked around to see him already out and standing, looking at his feet.

"C'mon," she urged gently "what're we looking for?" she asked and Anthony took a deep breath

"This way." He said softly, taking her hand and leading her toward the charred skeleton of the house. He paused slightly upon crossing the threshold of the building, looking toward the one spot and holding his hand over his chest.

"Is that where it happened?" she asked and he nodded

"That's where he murdered her." The young half devil whispered with vehemence. "I won't let him hurt anyone again." He said, his eyes starting to take on a little bit of that otherworldly glow again. Madeline patted his shoulder

"Let's get what we came for." She said, even she could feel the sadness, the hurt that hung over this place, it was heavy on her heart. Anthony took a deep breath and walked over the fallen and burned furniture, careful not to crush anything, then he came upon one room that was slightly less damaged than the rest, easily lifting a bookshelf and putting it back in place. Madeline let out a small squack and rushed forward to help him but by the time she got there it was already put back and Anthony was looking through the books that had fallen to the floor. It continued to surprise her just how far from human he was. He flipped through a few less burned and waterlogged books and stuck them into the backpack he was carrying.

"What ones are good?" she asked and Anthony just gestured around himself

"Any of them, they're all good." He said quietly. Madeline forced a smile and started looking. The first book she came across that was in good enough condition to keep was a cookbook, she asked the boy if he wanted to keep it. A single tear leaked down his cheek and he just held the backpack out so she could put it inside.

-The Boy in Blue-

It was a good several hours later that the two were finally leaving the house but before they did, Anthony went up to one of the closets and stopped. It was one of the few solid walls that was left standing. He reached a hand out and grabbed the doorknob before taking a deep breath and wrenching it open. It was empty. He sighed deeply.

"What are you looking for?" Madeline asked and Anthony just shook his head

"Nothing." He said, carefully closing the door again. Madeline could tell that was a blatant lie but didn't press the issue.

They climbed back into the car and started back toward their temporary home. Madeline was already in talks with social services about adopting Anthony, they wanted him to stay close but she pointed out that if they put him in the system that there was no guarantee that he'd stay close either, at least with her they'd know that he was being well looked after. She glanced in the mirror, Anthony had the backpack clung to his chest, it was mostly books but there were also a few odd trinkets in there as well, including a key that Anthony said didn't go to the house but opened a safe door to the demonic realm. It still boggled her mind that she was looking after a boy who was only half human, it boggled her that she ended up being the caretaker to a child at all. She'd always thought that she'd be the old maid that never married and never had kids. She'd never yearned for them but now that she was looking after Anthony… She looked back at him again to see him fast asleep and clutching the bag, she couldn't imagine it any other way.

A/N: Madeline has really started to grow on me :) I'm wondering if any of you guys are catching on to where this is going :p Cause I have a little headcannon for some of the DMC universe props if you can figure it out.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	15. A New Town

A/N: Hey everyone, up to no good again, but at least I'm getting another chapter out

Disclaimer: Yano.

A New Town

Anthony sighed as he continued to read, Madeline glanced over at him from her place in the driver's seat. He just continued with his book and ignored her, she smiled and shook her head. She'd noticed that he had a habit of sighing while he read a lot, it didn't matter what it was, fiction, history, cooking, he always sighed while he did it. The book, or rather tome, in the young boy's lap wasn't one of the ones that she could understand, it was written in some strange and bizarre language. Anthony had said that it was the most common tongue in the demon world, it looked like gibberish to her.

"What's going on now?" she asked, passing another semi on their way to the island. It was a very long drive but neither of them minded, Anthony didn't care if she played the radio while he read and she didn't mind that he just wanted to read. The older woman did appreciate that Anthony seemed to like to tell her about what he was reading, or he at least liked that she cared enough to ask him about it.

"They're talking about the rise of the first kings of the Underworld." He said absently, turning to the next page, mumbling under his breath the sounds of the demonic tongue. Madeline still felt a shiver run down her spine when she heard it, it sounded so strange coming out of a ten year old boy, if she didn't know any better she would say that he was possessed.

"It's a history book?" Madeline raised a brow, Anthony nodded, sticking a ribbon between the pages and closing the book

"It's the history of the "royalty"," she could see him put quotations around the word from the corner of her eye. "as told by the recorder."

"Recorder?"

"The one who writes down the stories of the rulers, the rulers change often, the recorder has only changed once in this book."

"Why?"

"Because the Recorder has no attachment to the current ruler, it is allowed to stay when everything in the royalty changes, its only attachment is to the story, the history of the ruler."

"Is it like England's old royalty?" she asked, hearing some similarities, mostly in the bigger military ruling.

"What's England's old royalty like?" Anthony asked, sitting up a little straighter now.

"Very bloody, people wanted the throne so they would fight for it and if their children didn't defend it they would lose it to somebody else."

"Yeah, it's very much like that, that is the essence of the demonic throne, whoever is the most powerful holds the throne, this is back when the human and demon worlds weren't separate though."

"They weren't always separate?"

"No, a very long time ago they were merged, humans were ruled by the strongest of the demons just as lesser demons were."

"What happened? How did they become separate?"

"My dad." He said this so casually but Madeline nearly choked on her own spit

"What?!" she asked, completely shocked, she had been about to ask about the history of the old rulers and what the succession had been like and so on but now she was so stuck on the idea that this boy's father was the reason that they weren't subject to demons anymore

"He separated the human and demon world through sacrifice, he didn't want to but he had to, and sealed all the demons away along with his own power."

"And how long ago was all this?"

"Two millennia."

"Jeez…" Madeline breathed the word out, she felt like all this information had hit her on the chest, hard and fast. "How long do devils live?"

"A long time, but it's hard to say, they live to fight, many die very early. And there are just as many species of demons and devils as there are animals and plants." Anthony explained carefully

"So…" Madeline paused, organizing her thoughts "Wait, what species are you?" Anthony shrugged

"I don't know, my mom never told me, I've been trying to find out ever since dad left but…" he looked to the book in his hands "besides, it's harder to find out since I'm half human too."

"Your dad never told you either?"

"No, he left before I ever thought to ask, I was very young."

"I see…" the car was quiet for a moment before the older woman spoke up again "So what happened to the old rulers?" Anthony smiled and looked down at the book again

"It was very bloody for a long time, at least as far back as this book goes. They fought tooth and nail and generations fell to one another before the ancient ones took power."

"The ancient ones?" Anthony nodded

"The first ones to hold supreme, ultimate power for a long time. They shared power for a long time, though the balance did shift a little bit in one way or another. They were in power for so long that many, many devils forgot that anything came before." Anthony patted the tome in his lap

"This book is a very, very rare thing. It makes me wonder what my father did to get ahold of it."

"No kidding." Madeline mumbled, it was fascinating to hear about a society that wasn't measured in hundreds of years as many human cultures were, but in millennia. She looked out the window for a moment as they crossed the bridge, pondering what she'd learned. Anthony didn't go back to reading as she thought he would but looked out the window curiously. He leaned forward as she pulled into a spaced out neighborhood, staring at the houses. She couldn't help but grin at his excitement, he was back to being just a little kid again. She pulled into a driveway and parked the car.

"Welcome to your new home."

A/N: :) This chapter was interesting, and fun :)

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	16. Settling In

A/N: Hey everybody! Back to typing again ;p and I miiiight be in my philosophy class… but eh? It _is _philosophy so sometimes it's hard to see the point and it's nice to have something to ground myself in the conversation. Sometimes we just end up talking in circles and it just makes my head hurt… so typing fanfiction it is for now

Disclaimer: Philosophy.

Settling In

Madeline sighed as she set down the last box then groaned as she looked around at the piles and piles of boxes in the room.

"Why do I have so much junk?" she mumbled, Anthony poked his head around the corner and looked at her between some boxes.

"You have a lot of stuff." He said simply and Madeline groaned, flopping down onto the couch that still wasn't really where it belonged. Anthony chuckled lightly and began poking his head into boxes, trying to figure out where everything ended up. The older woman sighed and stood up from the couch, she wasn't about to let a ten year old start unpacking without her. She pulled the old CD player from one of the boxes, it was one thing that she made sure to know where she put it, and plugged it in, tuning into the first radio station that had a song she knew and then began to pull things out of boxes and lay them into organized piles. Anthony watched for just a moment and then began to help, only occasionally asking questions or where something went, usually trinkets and decorations.

"We're gonna have to paint the kitchen, I don't think I'll be able to stand this yellow." Madeline said as they made a trip to the moderately sized room. Anthony wrinkled his nose as he turned back to the living room.

"What you like the yellow?"

"No, I don't like paint." He said, his face still slightly scrunched up. Madeline laughed and he glared at her slightly "It hurts my nose." The older woman nodded, that made sense, she had come to understand that the boy's senses were much, much stronger than an ordinary persons'.

"Well then, I'll keep it yellow." Anthony made another face and she started laughing again

"No, it's a bad color, I'll deal with the smell." He grumbled, Madeline ruffled his hair

"What color should it be?"

"Blue." He said immediately, the older woman smiled

"You like blue don't you?" he nodded and wandered back into the living room, head nodding slightly to the beat of the music coming from there. Madeline looked after him, it felt good to her that he had started to relax, she saw more of the ten year old boy and not the scarred traumatized being that had come home with her that night nearly a month ago.

-The Boy in Blue-

A couple hours later found the two sitting in the freshly arranged living room, watching a movie now that Madeline had finally gotten the VHS player working. Anthony sighed and leaned over, resting his head on Madeline's side. She looked down at him and smiled, he looked so much calmer when he was sleeping, the stress of who and what he was didn't seem to weigh down on him as much, he seemed to be more at peace. Madeline sighed herself and adjusted into a more comfortable position, completely ready for an afternoon nap.

She woke up some time later to Anthony poking her shoulder gently, she yawned and opened her eyes, blinking sleepily at the half devil next to her.

"I'm hungry." He said softly and she just smiled and shook her head as she sat up.

"Alrighty then, let's make something to eat then." She stretched and stood up, hitting stop and then rewind on the VHS player. "What do you want?" she asked, looking in the fridge, there wasn't much in there, she had made sure that there wasn't much food to try and transport, it wasn't an easy thing to bring when moving.

"Food." Anthony said blandly, hopping up onto the counter next to the fridge. Madeline sighed, leaning back to look at the ten year old.

"You're impossible." She stated, he shrugged, swinging his legs absently. She looked back into the fridge before looking into the cupboards instead.

"How does spaghetti sound?" she asked, Anthony shrugged and she gave him a flat look "Yes or no?" he paused for a moment and then nodded

"Okay. Was it that hard?" Anthony grinned a little bit and then nodded again, Madeline huffed and grumbled

"Just grab me a pot you little hellion." The half devil grinned and then looked over at the other cupboard, staring intensely at it for a moment before vanishing and reappearing next to the cupboard. The older woman jumped at the action and jumped again when he appeared next to her again. He seemed slightly worn but was grinning from ear to ear.

"What was that?!" she demanded, completely stunned by the action.

"Something I can do." He answered, handing her the empty pot, which she took with shaking hands, turning it over a couple times, uncertain if it was real.

"H-how?" she turned to the sink, trying to concentrate on the task at hand and not have a minor panic attack while filling the pot with water. Anthony tilted his head as he thought about it

"I just…feel myself in the other place and then I end up there."

"O-oh, okay." She put the pot on the stove and turned it on, tipping the sauce into another pot to heat it up.

"Is it a problem?" he asked

"No, no!" Madeline objected "You just surprised me, that's all, I wasn't expecting you to just poof from one place to another."

"I'll try and tell you next time." He said with a sly grin. Madeline rolled her eyes and gave him a light shove, calming now that the surprise of the action was starting to wear off.

"You're one hell of a surprising kid." Anthony grinned back at her

"I know."

A/N: I'm sorry if there's any weird words in there since I wrote during class and was trying to pay some attention…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	17. Practice

A/N: Shit. I just deleted everything I had just a second ago on accident. Words decided that it wanted to count my characters rather than my words, which is how I judge how long my chapters are… and I tried to copy it and hit the wrong button… sighs, anywho, I'll shut up now.

ThatEdditor: I'm glad you like how things are starting out, I really like writing them, the two character just mesh well together, writing young Vergil is easier than I thought, I'm hoping that it'll make things easier when I go to write him as the angry nineteen year old half devil we all know and love. And yeah, tragic endings are the best aren't they? ;p Don't worry I'll finish it, I never leave anything unfinished.

Practice

"Anthony?" Madeline called up the stairs to the young half devil who was still sleeping, usually he beat her at getting up in the morning but he had been fairly engrossed in his book last night and she didn't want to disturb him. Now she was regretting that decision as it was nearly ten and there was still no sign of him. There was no answer so she sighed and headed down the hallway of the modest home and pushed open his door. The only thing she could see from the gap was a puff of white hair sticking out from beneath the covers. She smiled and walked over, gently rubbing his shoulder and getting little more than a muffled grunt in return.

"C'mon Anthony, you gotta get up at some point, or do you just plan on sleeping the day away?" she asked and got another grunt in return.

"Alright, fine, I won't help you practice anything today." She paused, there was a small sigh and then Anthony sat up, his white hair sticking up in all directions and yawned hugely, rubbing the corners of his eyes. Madeline couldn't help the small laugh that slipped from her lips, though she got a glare for her efforts. Anthony grumbled and stood, grabbing some clothes from his drawer before shuffling, still half asleep, to the bathroom.

"Do you want breakfast?" she asked as she passed by, there was a mumbled answer that sounded suspiciously like 'yes'. "What do you want?" there was a pause this time

"Ham on toast." Madeline rolled her eyes, that boy could eat like there was no tomorrow, which surprised her considering how small he was, and yet he ate like he was growing like crazy. Her mind flicked to his demonic form, he was growing in a way, wasn't he though? The woman sighed and started breakfast in the kitchen. Luckily she had cooked up some Canadian bacon for herself and figured with how non-picky Anthony was that that would also be okay with him. When he shuffled into the kitchen a few minutes later and promptly began eating like he'd been starved for a week she figured she was right.

"What do you want to practice today?" she asked him, they had started a rule that every morning when they both got up she would help him practice some sort of fighting, or training, or something, she knew it gave him something to focus on, something that wasn't the death of his mother or the loss of the only family he'd ever known. Most of what happened is that he ended up explaining a lot and she was mostly there just to bounce ideas off of but he didn't seem to mind, he had said it helped him think through things to say them out loud. That was most definitely something she could relate to.

"I want to see how long I can hold my demon form." He said, his blue eyes completely awake now and full of strong determination. "I want to be just as capable in that form as in this one. I need to be stronger and that form is definitely stronger." He looked at his fingers and watched as they warped into claws. It was getting easier for him, even Madeline could see that plainly.

"Alright then, let's see if we can get you in the air then." She said and Anthony paled slightly

"I… I don't know about that…"

"Are you afraid of heights?" she asked, completely surprised by this, she never thought that the young half devil was afraid of anything

"N-no!" he denied quickly, way too quickly, the older woman smiled gently

"Well then, we better get started hmm?" Anthony finished his juice and they headed into their secluded back yard. Madeline appreciated not having close neighbors even more now that she was helping a young demon practice fighting technique and skills. Anthony took a deep breath and then there was a flash of blue lightning and a small devil stood in his place. He looked at her and she made a flapping motion with her arms.

"C'mon, at least give them a flap or two." Anthony looked at the wings that still hung fairly limply against his back and sides, they seemed bigger than he remembered… though he was still growing, as both a human and a devil… he concentrated and lifted them only slightly from his backside. It was strange and more difficult than he anticipated to control a limb he didn't normally have.

"Is that the best you can do?" Madeline teased, she knew she was pushing him, but sometimes that was all he needed was a little push and he would accomplish something absolutely astounding. Anthony glared at her and then at his wings, they would obey him dammit! He tried again, gaining a little more height and feeling far more tired than he thought he would, how would he ever fly like this? Madeline crouched down in front of him

"You can do this, they're just weak because you don't use them, think of them like you do with your sword, just an extension of your body." Vergil nodded at her, he could do this, he closed his eyes and commanded the weak muscles to pull and they did, it was a struggle but when he opened them again his wings were fully extended. He grinned at her and then felt his entire form slip away from his grasp.

"Dammit!" he cursed

"Anthony!"

A/N: That was pretty fun :)

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	18. Names

A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the lack of updates recently ^^; School and work life just caught up to me for a bit there, so I've got two chapters of this two write and three of all the others, cause I did update this one a couple weeks ago, anywho, I'll shut up and just get going on all the writing…

Disclaimer: What eva

Names

Things had been going well at the small home on Morris Island, it was pretty quiet for the woman and the young half devil, and that was fine for the both of them. Madeline enjoyed the simple life and Anthony certainly needed it after the chaos that had been the last several months. Their days usually consisted of reading, cooking and practicing for the preteen. Madeline started up her job again, it was a secretarial thing, nothing exciting but it paid pretty well and wasn't too difficult. She'd been worried at first that it would make Anthony lonely or that he wouldn't be able to look after himself. Though she needn't have worried, if she didn't know any better should would say that he never even noticed that she was gone. Clearly he was a kid who knew how to take care of himself. Madeline did notice though that Anthony would spend a lot more time in the same room as her when she was home, she teased him about it at one point, asking if he was lonely. The comment was made in jest but she did want to make sure that he was doing okay on his own. The way he looked at her when she asked was so surprised that she almost laughed, it was like he didn't even realize that he was doing it. She came to the conclusion that he was a kid who was used to taking care of himself but not used to being completely alone. They were eating dinner when she asked suddenly.

"Anthony was your mom home a lot?" he blinked at her, clearly not expecting the question, it had gotten easier for him to talk about his mom as time passed but she could still see the pain in his eyes when she was brought up.

"Yeah, I guess, but she was usually busy with dad's old stuff, or fixing old books." He replied softly, smiling down at his plate. Madeline smiled gently back, clearly the love of reading had been raised into him, that was a good thing, all kids needed to have that love ingrained in them…

"Anthony… do you have a brother?" blue eyes met brown as he stared her down, there was a bizarre mix of emotion in those icy eyes, pain, loss, confusion, debate.

"You can tell me, you can trust me." She said, reaching a hand out and putting it on Anthony's. He looked at it, as if debating whether or not he really could. He worried a lip for a second.

"Yes, a twin." He whispered, she just barely caught the words. Suddenly a lot of things made sense, the way he was able to take care of himself but liked the presence of another person, the way he could ignore distractions while reading so easily… a horrific idea dawned upon the woman when she realized that when they'd been at the burnt out house that he had been looking for his brother's body.

"Why lie about it?" she asked, Anthony looked up at her

"To make it harder for _them_ to find us." The honesty in his voice broke her heart, to know that this boy had been through so much at such a young age.

"Do you think…" she couldn't finish the sentence, couldn't imagine that such a young life had been snuffed out by monsters from her worst nightmares.

"I don't know, his body wasn't at the house." Anthony said softly, he took a deep breath, "I don't know… he… he wasn't the strongest…"

"What's his name?" she made sure to use present tense, trying to give the half devil some unconscious hope for his brother's life.

"I shouldn't tell you."

"Why?" Madeline was perplexed by this concept, it was just a name… then again he was hesitant to give his own at the police station, she thought to herself

"Protection, besides he might not be using the same one anymore, if mom taught him anything he won't be." Anthony looked caught up in this thoughts, probably memories of his sibling.

"Are you using your real name?" Anthony looked up at her and a small smile caught on the young boy's lips.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said mysteriously

"What is your real name?" Madeline asked, and the half devil frowned slightly at his deception being seen through so easily.

"I can't tell you, besides, a name is just something you call someone, I've used plenty in my life, you know me, isn't that good enough?" the way he said it made it sound like he'd been taught it, though his eyes looked like he believed it. Madeline sighed

"I suppose, but why don't you tell me your brother's name so I can help you try to find him. I don't know much about how one might do that but I'm sure we could figure something out." Anthony puffed out his lips and debated for a moment.

"Dante, his name's Dante." Madeline wondered what their mother was like, both his brother's real name and his own chosen one sounded Italian in heritage, was she Italian.

"Your brother, is he… like you?" she asked and Anthony made a face

"Why wouldn't he be like me? He's my twin, younger by a couple minutes but he's still my twin."

"Are you identical?"

"In looks, Dante's more outgoing than me, he was better at school, he got along with more people." He said with a small smile "He would always try to bring me into the groups, I didn't like being around lots of people but I didn't want to tell him to stop."

"You sound like great brothers."

A/N: This is so sweet, I like the idea of Dante and Vergil _mostly_ getting along as kids, it just warms my heart :3

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	19. Living Life

A/N: Hey guys! I hope that your Easter weekend was good, I got ham and mashed potatoes so I'd call that a win, also last Friday was my roommates 21st so that was… well it was mostly fun, I'll put it that way ^^; Anywho, this week I'm gonna hope to get an extra couple chapters out for my other works but I'm gonna focus on what I usually try and get done first, so if you follow those, keep a lookout and hope for the best!

Disclaimer: boo

Anonymous DMC: Haha, I'm glad that you like it so much, I'm happy when I update too, I try to stick to schedule but… y'know, life gets in the way sometimes. Thanks so much for the review!

SereneCrosstamer: Hahahahaha, I thought it was cute too :3 I don't know what's going to happen to her, actually that's a lie, I do know, but I won't say :p Thanks for the review!

Living Life

Madeline never would have guessed that things could go this smoothly raising a kid, particularly since said kid wasn't even entirely human, but things were going as smooth and smooth could be. They got along, Anthony did what was asked of him, albeit with the occasional grumble about time or not wanting to, but she expected that, he was a kid after all. She never thought that she would end up with a kid, she had always just assumed that she would end up being the cool aunt figure to her cousins kids or something, besides it wasn't like she was out looking for love, so she had never thought that she'd run into the right guy for the job either. Now here she was, raising a young boy all by herself. The woman smiled upon seeing the look of intense focus on Anthony's face as he held the katana out in front of himself. Then there was one fierce slash down and log split neatly into two, without the blade ever touching the wood.

"That's still impressive." She said as the young half devil inspected the pieces of split wood with a critical eye

"It's not quite even." He grumbled, giving the air a few gentle practice swipes. Madeline rolled her eyes

"You mister, are a little perfectionist." She said as she stood and shook the couple of leaves that had accumulated on her blanket off and sat back down. He glared grumpily at her.

"I got a letter in the mail today about you." She said, changing the subject. Anthony raised a brow and the katana disappeared into his arm like it usually did. It didn't freak her out as much anymore but it was still a little bizarre to see.

"You did?"

"I need to enroll you in school." She said and Anthony made a face, the older woman couldn't help but grin at it.

"I know you don't like other kids but it is kind of a law that you have to go to school."

"It's a dumb law, I learn plenty at home." He grumbled, plopping down in a chair across form her on the porch table.

"Well whether you like it or not we have to go get you registered within the next week, so when do you want to go?" all she received in response was a pout, she grinned evily, "I can take you willingly or I can take you kicking and screaming, your choice, so what'll it be?" he looked at her, a challenge in his eye. She often wondered if the defiance in him was just that of a young boy or if it stemmed from his demonic heritage, either way it was something that she had seen many, many times in her cousin and had dealt with accordingly.

"You couldn't force me." He said and she raised a brow

"You wanna try me?" Madeline asked and Anthony bit his lip. "My strength isn't in my muscles but if you want to try a game of wills I will win, you know that." Anthony sat in silence of another moment before sighing heavily

"Fine… we can go tomorrow, better get the stupid thing over with." He grumbled, Madeline truly appreciated that he never actually tried to fight her on anything, she knew when it did come down to stubbornness she _would _win but if it ever came to blows, that boy was easily stronger than a grown man. It didn't matter that they were twice or even three times his size, he could take them down like wet paper. The power contained within that small body scared her sometimes, but not nearly as much as the fact that he thought he was still too weak…

-The Boy in Blue-

Registration passed without a hitch and Anthony was set to start school later that month, along with the rest of the kids on Morris Island, he didn't seem too keen about it but he did seem excited about going shopping for new school stuff. Madeline smiled and flipped to the next page in her book, she was losing focus on it but that didn't matter too much. She paused when she heard a small noise from down the hall, she waited for a moment and then heard another, the older woman sighed and stood, she hated when this happened…

She opened the door to Anthony's room, and saw him thrashing on the bed, crying out lightly in his sleep, it was something she hated seeing in him. Madeline sat down on the edge of his bed and started stroking his hair lightly. He twitched again, his form switching from human to demonic without any indication, Madeline didn't even flinch, and instead kept stroking his head until he calmed down and slipped back into both his human form and calm comfortable sleep. She smiled and kissed his forehead softly

"Mom…" the boy whispered, sounding happier than he had a moment before. Madeline paused, who exactly had he meant?

A/N: I'm still loving their interactions.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	20. New School

A/N: I'm currently sitting in my classmate's car, getting a ride to main campus, stewing about one of my grades, cause the professor's rubric has typos on it… it says it's out of ten points when it's actually out of fifteen… so I saw that I had an eight and thought I did well but was confused why I had a 53% *sighs* this professor pisses me off a bit

Disclaimer: *grumbles angrily*

Anonymous DMC: I can't give up any stories, they stick in my head too much, I might disappear for a bit now and again but I'll never leave anything unfinished, I could never do that. Thanks so much for the review!

New School

Vergil picked at the bottom of his shirt as Madeline dropped him off at the school, he would never admit it but he was really nervous. He remembered the several different new schools that he and Dante had gone to as children. But back then… back then he'd had Dante to help him, he'd always felt like he was supposed to take care of his younger brother but when it came to making new friends he'd always relied on his little brother, the younger son of Sparda had an easier time making new friends and mingling among the human race. Vergil wasn't sure why he had such a hard time with it, his mom had always called him shy but he didn't like that term, he wasn't shy, he just didn't like very many people.

"Anthony, you ready?" Madeline asked quietly, shaking him out of his thoughts, he looked up at her and nodded

"Yeah, don't worry about me," he said, giving the best smile he could with all the butterflies in his stomach. Madeline smiled back

"It's okay to be nervous." Vergil looked back up to her, how did she know? He never ceased to be amazed by this particular human's ability to see right through him…

"I'm not nervous!" he exclaimed, wanting to promptly smack his forehead, well now she knew for sure…

"I'll be here this afternoon to pick you up." She said, Vergil smiled weakly at her, he wasn't sure what else to do

"Well go on," Madeline encouraged, Vergil nodded again and opened the car door, exiting slowly. He closed it behind himself and then watched her drive off, feeling illogically abandoned. He knew she would be back, he knew that she would be fine, but some tiny part of himself felt like he was going to get back home to a bloodbath, he couldn't help that, and he wasn't sure if it was a feeling that would ever go away. He looked to the school, a scowl on his face, he didn't want to be here… Yamato pulsed in his mind, faint and weak, Madeline had made him leave the ancient katana at home. It was locked up, that was Vergil's only stipulation, he wasn't going to just leave his sword up for the taking, it was his and no one else could wield it but that didn't mean he wasn't nervous about some devil picking it up and overpowering the devil inside. The half devil sighed and worried his lip, walking up to the front of the school, all of the teachers were standing outside, holding up signs with their names on them so students could find their classes. Vergil quickly located his class and walked over, hanging at the back, trying to look inconspicuous, though for someone like him, that wasn't the easiest. He saw the teacher give him a strange look before continuing to look for the rest of the class.

-The Boy in Blue-

Madeline felt like pacing behind her desk when she finally arrived at work, her coworker just gave her an odd look, and looked like she was going to ask what was going on but decided to be smarter than that. Her boss wasn't as wise…

"Madeline? What's gotten into you?" he asked when he noticed her fidgeting. She smiled politely at him and tried to calm herself, not that it really helped all that much.

"I just dropped my little boy off at school today." She said, noticing herself that she referred to Anthony as her little boy, and she really did think of him as hers now, he had become family to her, she hadn't given birth to him and she didn't think she could ever replace his birth mother but she felt that she had become something of a mother figure to him.

"I didn't know you had a kid." The man said, a slightly surprised look on his face, Madeline and her coworker exchanged glances

"To be fair sir, you don't really ask much about our personal lives." She said honestly, her boss hmmed

"I'm sorry, I just usually get focused on work," he rubbed the back of his neck "What grade is he in? I have a little girl myself, lives with my ex-wife but love her to pieces when I do get her." He said, pulling out his wallet and passing it to Madeline, who looked at the picture and smiled at the cute little girl inside.

"He just started fifth grade." The brunette said with a smile, Anthony had looked at some of the stuff that their class would be doing and had immediately started whining to her about how easy it all looked, Madeline had brushed him off, that boy needed to normalcy in his life, he needed something very _human _to do.

"Tough age, ten?"

"Almost eleven. And your daughter?" her boss had moved to his desk and Madeline could tell they were about to slip into the normal work routine but she was enjoying the breath of fresh air that this conversation was providing, it was just a little break from the normal grind.

"Seven, still thinks daddy is the best guy ever, though my ex seems to be trying to convince her otherwise." He sighed and shook his head, looking up at the two women in the room. "Anyway, do you two think you can get me that report for finance before lunch?"

"I think we can do that sir." Shelley said from her desk and then things turned back to the way they always were, calm and quiet.

A/N: I think the ending point was a little odd but… I'm not really sure what to do about it… anyway, I like looking at things from the normal persons perspective, it makes the stranger parts of the DMC universe seem all the stranger :p

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	21. Classmate Questions

A/N: Good morning everyone, it's currently 7:00 am my time, and I'm up typing and drinking my coffee, aka, it's a good morning, if I'm really on top of stuff then I might even get to close my eyes again for a few minutes until we have to leave, but that's entirely dependent on how fast I type, so let's get started shall we?

Disclaimer: I've booped everyone but you guys, so BOOP!

SereneCrosstamer: Haha, yeah he does, lolol you're awfully suspicious... Thanks for the review!

Classmate Questions

"Why's your hair white?" one of his classmates asked on the way into the classroom and Vergil sighed, he knew the question was coming, it always did, but that didn't make it any less obnoxious.

"My dad's was." He said simply, ignoring the next question that came out of the kid's mouth, whatever the boy had to say he didn't care, he did want to associate with annoying people, that was usually what Dante was good at, keeping the kids away from him, he was an expert at gathering the attention of the entire group and keeping it held for as long as he wanted. But Dante wasn't here this time, Vergil worried his lip, he missed his little brother, he just wanted him back, just wanted the annoyance, the comfort, the companionship that his nestmate provided. He looked at the teacher, still trying to tune out the kid in the background who was still trying to ask him questions.

They finally made it into the classroom and the young half devil sighed in relief when he was pointed to a seat far away from the annoying kid, the boy next to him was small, just like he was, and had mousy brown hair, looking about as average as they come. Vergil looked to his other side, a young girl sat there, her hair pulled back into neat braids on either side of her head and Vergil couldn't help but to think of his and Dante's childhood friend, they looked nothing alike, this girl was blonde haired and blue eyed but she reminded him none the less. The teacher was gathering her things from the desk, seeming completely comfortable giving them a moment to get settled into their seats as they wished. Vergil turned back to the front, he'd already organized all of his things in his desk, filing them neatly so he could find all of them later. The boy next to him stuck out a hand and Vergil blinked, looking at it for a moment before taking it carefully

"Hi," the boy said "my name's Ernest, what's your name?"

"Anthony." Vergil replied smoothly.

"You're new aren't you." The other boy asked after they shook hands, he looked up at Vergil's head, clearly taking note of the unusual color but Vergil didn't make any comment. The other boy didn't ask him about it, and that was a plus to him. The boy seemed to just want to introduce himself.

"Yes, my mom and I just moved here." He had decided that it would be easier to refer to Madeline as his mother, people would ask less questions if he did so, he didn't have to worry about them asking into his real mother, and then he didn't have to think back on that moment…

"Cool, I just moved here last year." The boy said with a toothy grin, he was missing a tooth on one side, which gave him a strange, almost lopsided appearance. Vergil couldn't help but smile back at him, his mood was infectious.

"You'll like Ms. Manson, she's really nice, at least that's what the older kids told me last year." He said gesturing to the teacher, who was writing a few notes on the board, the kind of thing that they needed to know, what subjects they were going to be learning, what homework would be like, etc. Vergil pulled out a notebook and opened it up to a clean page, some of the first ones he had been scribbling out notes in the demonic tongue, which would look like gibberish to most, but it was one of the few ones he knew how to write for himself.

"That's good," Vergil said politely, not quite sure what else to say, thankfully Ernest fell silent as Ms. Manson cleared her throat, ready to start at last.

"Good morning class." She said

"Good morning," the class parroted back to her, and Vergil blinked, that wasn't something he was used to from his old school, maybe it was an island thing…

"Now, I think we have a few new faces to the school," she said looking around the classroom "If you all would be so kind as to stand up and introduce yourselves?" Vergil sighed and was about to stand up when another kid did so, it was the annoying kid from earlier, he realized with mild surprise. The boy introduced himself as Henry and said he came from down south and then a girl whose name the half devil promptly forgot and then he stood up and told the class his name and roughly where he came from, thankful for not needing to go into details about his life, he didn't need to go back into those memories.

"Very good, now since we are all in the fifth grade now, I'm fairly certain that you all know how things usually go, and we're going to get a jump right on into things, first though, you are all going to need a math book, so, I'm going to call you up and you come get one, when you do, put your name inside the front cover and take it back to your seat. This is your book for the entire year, so I expect you to take care of it." She explained and Vergil perked up in his seat, trying to see the books that were sitting on the counter, wanting to see what was inside. All of a sudden he was actually very excited, and very hopeful for the coming school year.

A/N: I always liked the first day of school as a kid, actually I still do, but in college that's cause it just means that everyone hands out syllabi…^^;

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	22. Homecoming

A/N: So I'm sorry about how late this is guys, I just got finished with the spring semester and am now starting the summer one, this one's going to be a bit of a nightmare as I have a full classload and am working 40 hours a week, or at least trying to. It's going to be a very interesting couple months. So if updates are a bit wonky, I do apologize and I am fully aware I missed a solid three weeks so there is going to be a long extra update coming at the end of the semester, I just can't swing it right now. ^^;

Disclaimer: Wah.

SereneCrosstamer: I like school too. Yeah I don't feel like Vergil's really one to bother with names ^^; Now I feel bad for not updating in a couple weeks ^^;; Thanks so much for the review!

Homecoming

Madeline smiled as she pulled up to the school, it had been a long slow day at work. After their initial talk in the morning, their boss had mostly just left them alone. It made for a very boring day indeed. But now she was here to pick up Anthony, and she was curious to see how his first day went. She looked to the school and saw the fluffy head of white hair come darting out of the building and she couldn't help but smile wider. Anthony pulled open the door with a wide grin on his face and plopped down on the front seat of the car with a huff.

"So…" Madeline prompted and Anthony turned to grin at her.

"I like this school." He said and Madeline felt like a ton of bricks fell off her shoulders, she'd been worried about the little half devil going to school with other ordinary kids, though now she knew she needn't have done so. Anthony was a bright kid, school did him good, she should have known that he would flourish.

"That's good."

"The topics are a little easy but the teacher likes me cause I like to answer the questions, cause I know the answers." Madeline chuckled

"You a little teacher's pet?" she asked and Anthony frowned at her

"I am not!" he denied and Madeline just laughed, ruffling his hair

"C'mon, let's go home." She said and Anthony grouchily fixed his hair and grumbling something in the demonic language, the older woman assumed that it was more denial.

-The Boy in Blue-

Once they got home Vergil jumped out of the car and rushed into the house and out into the backyard, he wanted to practice his transformation again. He heard Madeline following him more slowly but paid her no mind and closed his eyes, clearing his mind of everything except the power that thrummed deep in his chest, dormant, sleeping, but it roused, flaring to life as he prodded it, the crackle of lightning rolled over his skin and left a devil in its wake. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on keeping the fire fueled in his mind. Feeding more and more power into it. Madeline stepped out onto the back porch, a plate with crackers and cheese in her hand. Vergil grinned, his tiny wings lifting slightly from his back as he concentrated.

"Hey!" the brunette said with a grin "That's better than last time!" Vergil nodded, flapping them up and down a few times, starting to get a rhythm of beating the air, until he couldn't lift them anymore. The power inside of him running empty and the air crackled with lightning once again. The white haired boy plopped down on the porch chair and took a few deep breaths, trying to catch up again. A cracker appeared in his vision and he took it gratefully, looking up to see Madeline pulling out a porch chair herself and taking a seat. Vergil took a swig from the water glass she'd set on the table and then sat up, still trying to catch his breath.

"It's still not good enough." He grumbled "They're so weak." He looked behind himself, almost able to feel the limbs like phantoms while he was stuck as a mostly human being.

"Anthony, you never used them before a couple weeks ago, you can't expect to just be able to fly right out of the gate." She said, hoping she sounded encouraging, the boy just huffed at her grouchily.

"Besides," she nudged him, "I thought you didn't want to fly anyway." Anthony grumbled but sat up and started eating cheese and crackers as though he'd been starved. He sighed a moment later and closed his eyes, concentrating once more. It stunned Madeline how much easier it had become for him to transform from one form to another. He stood again, and then looked back at her defiantly before climbing up onto the rail of the porch and then leaping off, beating the air frantically with his wings and there was half a second of suspension before he crashed into the ground. Madeline leapt up from her seat to see the white haired boy in a heap on the ground, he jolted upright, swearing like a sailor and watching as the scrapes on his knees healed up in a matter of seconds. The brunette just stared blankly, he had explained to her that he healed fast but actually seeing it was a whole different story. It was… well it was phenomenal… He continued to grumble as he stalked back to the porch and was about to do it again when Madeline finally snapped out of it and snatched his arm.

"Don't do that again." She reprimanded. The white haired boy looked at her with defiance in his eyes. "Anthony." She warned. The young half devil glared for another half second before sighing and relaxing.

"Fine…"

A/N: Oh Vergil, ye of little patience… So I'm currently in a statistics lab. Yup a lab… for a statistics course, cause that makes sense…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	23. It's Good to Have Friends Again

A/N: So yeah, I know it's been a couple weeks again on the update for this but… yeah I'm just ridiculously busy, but I am keeping a running tally for how long I should make my make up chapters for all of my work and I do intend to keep my word on that, who knows, it might work this right up to the end of itself. Cause there isn't a ton left in this particular work before I move on to the next one, I'm thinking about doing part of Dante's side next, or maybe I'll continue with Vergil, I don't know, let me know your opinions in a review, or drop me a pm, I don't care

Disclaimer: Bop

It's Good to Have Friends Again

Vergil continued to go to school and come home and practice his fighting, just as he had his first day of class. He enjoyed school well enough, it was a little easy for him… well it was a lot easy for him, but it was surprisingly nice to be around other kids his age, even if they didn't really know him, or he them. The half devil never thought that he would miss the yells out on the playground, or the yammering in the morning before the class actually started but he found it comforting to be a part of all the same. Perhaps it was because he missed his mother and the normality he had with her, or perhaps it was because he just wanted some place to belong again. Either way, the young boy found himself settling down into a routine.

He continued to find himself hanging out with the Ernest boy during recess and, remembering the young girl that he and Dante used to hang out with after school, invited him over to his house after classes one day. He had asked Madeline permission of course and the older woman had been so delighted to hear that Anthony had made enough of a friend to invite over that she had immediately said yes. She picked them both up from school and immediately the boy stuck out his hand to make her acquaintance. She wanted to laugh, he was so polite and it was frankly adorable.

"Hello, Anthony's mom, I'm Ernest." She was about to correct him on the whole mom thing when Anthony just shrugged and she blinked, surprised that it didn't bother him, but if he was okay with it, then it certainly didn't bother her.

"Please just call me Madeline." She said, taking the young boy's hand, he was mature in a different way than Anthony, where the half devil had seen and experienced too much for his young age, Ernest was just a very polite young man.

"Okay." Ernest said happily, buckling his seatbelt.

Madeline started the short drive home, asking both boys how their days were at school, asking Ernest about his family, where he lived before Morris Island, how he liked the new school, how he liked his classmates. The young boy asked her a few questions in return, like where they lived before the island, what she did for a living, how she liked it.

The conversation had just started to die off when they reached the house and both boys tumbled from the car and into the house, dumping their backpacks by the door. Madeline followed slower, watching as they tumbled into the backyard, kicking around a soccer ball that Ernest had brought with him.

"You boys hungry?" she yelled out and both of them shouted their agreement, coming tumbling back into the house as she pulled out peanut butter and an apple, a good snack, she thought to herself as Anthony instructed Ernest to wash his hands first. They were both just sitting down as she brought out a snack and, taking a piece or two for herself, went about her afternoon routine of cleaning up around the house and settling down with a good book.

The boys played outside for a while before coming back inside both complaining of hunger, Madeline laughed and they all started on dinner, she had picked up ingredients for personal pizzas as she figured there was no way to go wrong with that. Neither boy seemed to disagree with her as they helped prepare the food and then when the pizzas were in the oven to cook they drove into town to the movie rental store and she let each boy pick out a movie. Ernest picked out Inspector Gadget and to her surprise, Anthony picked up a Scooby Doo movie. It made her smile though, she had to remember, that deep down, despite all he had seen and experienced, despite how old and mature he acted for his age, he was still just a little kid.

They took the movies back and were just in time to take the pizzas out of the oven, they all sat, content and pleasant, in front of the TV and watched the Inspector crack the case and Scooby and the Gang unmask the monster. Madeline couldn't help but smile along with the jokes that were made in the movies, they were awfully cheesy but all the same, it was a lighthearted day, a very _normal_ day in the house. There had been no talk of revenge, of monsters and demons, just two boys playing and having a good time together. Maybe, just maybe, Anthony was starting to heal from the trauma he'd been through.

-The Boy in Blue-

Madeline had spoken too soon, She heard Anthony scream in the middle of the night and she was up and moving the second she remembered it wasn't only herself and the half devil in the house. Ernest was sleeping in Anthony's room as well. She nearly flew up the stairs to find Ernest sitting up in his sleeping bag, looking beyond baffled and Anthony was curled up into a ball, simply whimpering now.

"It's all right," she whispered, pulling him into his arms as he sobbed "it was only a dream."

A/N: Slightly awkward end point it awkward but it's the best I got at the moment…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	24. Confessions

A/N: Alright, I'm the second chapter for today and well… I really should be doing my homework but what else is the day before it's due for? Besides, I have statistics tomorrow, plenty of time to do homework in class ^^; Either way, it'll get done, so why not get some fanfiction done too? Fair warning, I have had a Mike's before beginning this chapter, only one… and the very end of Adam's as he has rediscovered that he doesn't like them (and he's gone to bed like a lame person), so if something seems off, that's why

Disclaimer: Because real writers obviously enjoy an alcoholic beverage while writing.

SereneCrosstamer: Hahahahaha, there's always more feels, always. And I do feel bad, I try to be fairly consistent on my upload schedule, thanks so much for the review!

Confessions

Ernest was just plain confused, what was going on here? One minute he'd been dreaming that he was the best motorcyclist in the world and now all of a sudden, he was woken up by Anthony screaming bloody murder. Madeline had come bolting in a moment later which reminded Ernest very much of his younger cousin around Easter, poor girl had had a nightmare and nearly woken the whole house, though she had been two and not twelve… the taller boy rubbed the sleep from his eyes, trying to focus better. Madeline was now sitting on the bed, trying to comfort Anthony who looked barely awake himself.

"I… I just couldn't do anything…" the white haired boy managed and Madeline held him tighter, unable to do much else.

"It's alright," she whispered, for once wishing that she knew Anthony's true name, she felt that that would help pull him out of this, hearing his birth name every once and a while. She understood his reasoning behind not telling her but all the same, she wondered. She was surprised when Ernest stood up and came over, setting a gentle hand on his friends shoulder to join her own.

"Anthony, you're at home, it was just a dream." He said, seeming only on the cusp of being awake. Madeline tried to desperately remember if this boy had siblings but her tired brain came up short. Anthony turned and looked at his friend, seeming to come back to consciousness just a tad.

"Ernest." He said, then he blinked, awareness of his surroundings coming back more than a little. "I'm… I'm sorry." He managed and sat up on his own, looking at Madeline and then once around the room, orienting himself once again with the real waking world.

"It's okay." Ernest said around a big yawn, "My cousin used to do that too. Get scared by nightmares all the time. She got better though, I'm sure you will too." With that he laid back down in his sleeping bag and Madeline was sure that he was out before his head even reached the pillow. Anthony looked at her and she sighed

"Yeah, I'm not tired anymore either, how bout we go downstairs and I make us each a cup of hot cocoa?"

"Can I have mint in mine?" the young half devil asked, perking up a little at the mention of the soothing drink

"Of course." She said

-The Boy in Blue-

Once downstairs and both situated with their respective mugs Madeline turned to the young boy and said

"So what was it about?" Anthony looked at the mug in his hands, stirring it absently to break up the chunks of powder

"My mom, I can never make it in time, not even in my dreams, I always get caught, always get impaled…" his hand ghosted over the spot where he had been struck. It still amazed the older woman that this boy had survived being impaled by a spike, that he had more or less just shrugged it off, being up and moving again within twenty four hours. Madeline reached forward and grabbed the boy's hand

"It _will _get better, you will stop having nightmares, you will be able to handle the idea of your mom again, I promise." Anthony looked at her solemnly

"Pinky promise?" he said and Madeline nearly had to laugh at that request, she hadn't heard that one in forever, but she simply smiled and acquiesced the boy her finger seemed enormous in comparison to his… they sat in silence for a bit before she asked him

"Why didn't you correct Ernest when he said that I was your mom?" she asked curiously. Anthony just gave the tiniest of shrugs.

"I didn't want to make things harder you." He said and Madeline sighed, nudging him gently as to not spill the hot cocoa.

"Always the one to look after others before yourself." She said and Anthony just shrugged again "I also didn't want to upset you, or Ernest. You are not my real mom but you have helped to fill that hole." He said quietly, touching the spot on his chest again.

Madeline took a deep breath as she felt her throat swell up with tears. She wanted to blame it on her allergies but she knew that it was from the last statement that Anthony had made, the young boy had come to accept her as part of his family, just as she had accepted him as one of her own. She knew it wasn't normally this easy for kids who were orphaned out of the blue. They normally were thrown into the system and never got out. Became trouble makers, hoodlums, petty thieves. But Anthony, he'd gotten lucky to show up on her doorstep those coule of months ago, and she supposed, she had gotten lucky too, to have such a nice young boy become a part of her family, even if it was only through vague connection in reality.

A/N: Alright, I've gotta quit while I'm ahead, I'm falling asleep over my keyboard right now and I've got to get up early for work…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	25. Passage of Time

A/N: Typing in class again… I'm a bad student… meh.

Disclaimer: Boooooooooooooo

Passage of Time

Vergil opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the ceiling, he took a deep breath and reached within himself, pulling on the power of Yamato gently. The ancient katana responded eagerly to its young master's command. It had been too long since it had bathed in the blood of monsters. It wanted desperately to feel the heat of battle again but it knew, it knew that its young master was still healing, he was nearly ready to fight again if need be, nearly, but not quite. The half devil looked at the blade in his hand, tightened his hand on the grip and felt the comfort it gave him to have it. It pulsed white hot energy into his mind, reminding him of battles long ended and times long past. He smiled and closed his eyes again, reveling it the feeling of power, the feeling of being a devil free from anyone's control. The blade certainly preferred the mastery of himself and before him, his father, than those who didn't seek power, didn't want to continue that pursuit for all of their lives. Sparda had pursued a different sort of power but it mattered little to the ancient devil, he now belonged to another. This boy wanted power just as it was meant to be, he had a burning desire for vengeance in his heart, one that couldn't be coddled by human society or soothed by kind words. He was still young, he still had much time to gain more power… Vergil bit his lip as the thoughts of vengeance floating off of the devil arm sparked memories of his mother, it had been over a year but it still hurt him deeply, if only he'd been stronger… if only she'd been stronger, if only he didn't have his human side holding him back…

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, he needed to get up and get ready for school, Madeline would be getting up to make breakfast soon and he always like to be down there to help her. He placed Yamato next to his bed where the devil arm spent the majority of the days. Madeline had been right all that time ago, his nightmares had stopped, or at the very least, they had become extremely rare. He pulled his clothes for the day on and yawned as he made his way to the bathroom, splashing water on his face to help bring his body to alertness. He felt the smallest tingle in the back of his mind, the smallest demonic presence. The half devil gripped the edge of the counter, it was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time, and he felt his heart race in the idea of a fight. He looked to the clock in the bathroom, he had plenty of time…

-The Boy in Blue-

Madeline nearly jumped out of her skin when Anthony came in through the door covered in grime and blood.

"What happened!?" she asked, terrified that the boy had gotten hurt, she knew he healed quickly but she still worried. Anthony grinned, white teeth against a dirty face and eyes that lit up with a demonic light.

"It was a minor demon, I took care of it." He said, still grinning, despite the gore sticking to him.

"What?!" Anthony sighed

"I sensed a minor demon and I took care of it." He said simply, as though this were the most basic idea in the world, not as though he had just hunted down something and killed it just for sport.

"But…" she managed, unsure of what else to say.

"It's fine, I'm fine." He said, walking upstairs, presumably to get cleaned up. Madeline numbly continued to cook the eggs on the stove, her mind reeling from the current predicament, what was she supposed to tell him? That people didn't just hunt things down and kill them? He wasn't entirely human so that didn't really apply, and at the same time, the kid held a vengeance against the very monsters that had killed his mother, they were monsters, at least, from how much she understood.

"I'm not cut out for this…" Madeline mumbled as she slid the egg onto the plate.

Twenty minutes later Anthony was back downstairs, looking perfectly cleaned up. It wasn't as though he'd just killed another creature in the back alley of a store. He sat down and started eating, just like he always did. He paused and looked up at her staring at him

"What?" he said, egg balanced hap hazardously on his fork.

"You just…" she sighed, trying to collect her thoughts. "You just sensed a demon and went and killed it."

"It doesn't belong here." He said, taking a bite of his food "It was weak and so I killed it. That's the way things go. Why?"

"It's just… it's just a lot to take in, I thought you'd hurt yourself." She said, though it still freaked her out that he'd just gone out and killed something. Anthony shrugged

"It only got me once, I need to practice more. Besides, I heal very quickly." Madeline could practically _feel_ the grey hairs growing out of her head

"I still worry about you." She said

"You don't need to." He said simply. Madeline made a face at the half devil in front of her

"I never asked for your opinion on it," she said rather grouchily "I am going to worry with or without your permission, now finish your breakfast and let's go, you're going to be late for class." Anthony grumbled a little but sped up his eating.

The half devil took a deep breath when he got in the car, his nerves were still trilling with the heat of battle that he had felt fighting off that minor demon, Yamato pulsed within his mind, fueling his adrenalin, he needed to do that again…

A/N: Tada!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	26. Once Upon a Time

A/N: So yeah, I know I'm late again, trying to get on top of things right now, shutting up and typing…

Disclaimer: Yup.

Once Upon a Time

Vergil leaned back against the tree in the backyard. That fight had been harder than he had anticipated… He grit his teeth and put a hand to his shoulder, it was pretty badly roughed up, worse than he intended to get.

"Anthony!" Madeline called from the porch, he looked over to her, she looked horrified at his condition. "What on earth-?!"

"Didn't dodge fast enough." He said before she could begin to panic any further. She had come to mean a lot to him, despite being human, despite being weaker than he, but all the same she had trouble with his need to fight, his need to gain more power. He could see the fear in her eyes sometimes, when he did something that wasn't human, wasn't within the world that she knew.

"Anthony…" she said quietly as he stood, the wound was closing quickly now, no longer splitting open with every movement.

"I need to get cleaned up, I told Ernest that I would meet him at his house later." Yamato was still thrumming excitement into his mind, still thrilled at bathing in the blood of devils again, Vergil couldn't help but smile at the ancient monster in his mind, despite living currently in peace, the devil arm wouldn't let him forget about his drive, his desire for revenge, the burning rage in the depths of his heart. He passed by Madeline without another word, though he could _feel _her eyes on the back of his head as he heaved himself up the stairs. He was exhausted, but in a very good sort of way, he might've been hurt more than he intended in that fight but it wasn't as though he had lost, he'd still taken down the devil in the end.

The young half devil sighed as the water beat down on his back, washing away the fight and calming his still singing nerves. He couldn't help but get nervous, every time he went in to fight a demon, he still flashed back to that moment, those three glowing orbs staring down at him, judging him on what he was alone. Vergil shivered and roughly started scrubbing at his hair, Yamato pulling on his strength and bravery of that moment, of coming out of hiding to protect his mother and brother, if he hadn't his brother most certainly would've died… Dante… the older twin wondered if his brother was still alive, he had certainly made it out of the house but had he made it far? Had he survived the hordes that must've remained long after setting the house ablaze, he didn't know. He wanted desperately for his brother to still be alive, to find him would prove he wasn't so alone in this world. Sure, he had Madeline but she didn't _understand_ him, understand a devil, what it was like to be both a devil and a human at the same time. No, until he found proof, it would be easier to assume Dante had died trying to get away, it would be easier to move on that way.

-The Boy in Blue-

Madeline listened from the kitchen as the shower ran, hearing as Anthony knocked a shampoo bottle from the shelf and sighed, running her hands through her hair. What was she supposed to do? She wasn't cut out for this, this wasn't something you could just go to the library and read about. Sure she had asked Anthony as many questions as he was willing to answer about the books that they had scavenged from his father's library and a couple of them were in English and a couple she was pretty sure were in Latin but she had neither the patience, nor the experience to try and translate those… This wasn't something that she felt capable of handling. The boy was so wild sometimes, that look in his eye when he came home, covered in blood and gore and smiling like he'd just won the lottery, he looked at her like he expected her to be proud but she didn't know how to react. It was like when she was a kid and her dog had dragged in a dead possum and sat in the middle of the room wagging its tail like it deserved a treat for killing the thing. The older woman sighed again, pulling a bottle down from the shelf and mixing herself a sturdy drink, she was going to need it if it was just going to be herself and her thoughts again tonight.

"What am I supposed to do?" she muttered taking a sip and making a slight face as the liquor burned down her throat. "It's not like I can just call up my mom and say that 'y'know that kid I adopted, well he's half demon and I didn't know if you had any advice for me'. Yeah, right, she'd probably just laugh at me and tell me that I was quite the little hellion myself." The brunette laughed humorlessly and sat back down at the table, looking out the window and into the yard, noticing the blood coating the tree and hoping that it would rain to wash away the evidence that the boy she was caring for had been hurt. Anthony came down the stairs then, back of his hair still a little wet and looking just like any other eleven year old boy in that moment, if you ignored the fact that his hair was as white as untouched snow.

"I'm going to head out now…" he started to say and then paused, noticing that something that she did not. "Are you okay?" she noticed that he didn't address her as Madeline, and neither as mom, she knew that it had to be hard for him to put her in that position and she didn't want to force him either.

"Am I a good enough mom for you?" she asked, and as soon as the words left her lips she was wondering if that alcohol had gotten to her head already. Anthony paused, dropping his bag on the floor and wandering over to her chair.

"What are you talking about?" he said quietly, pulling a chair close to hers and sitting in it. This was one of those moments that she felt like she was talking to a wise adult instead of a young child.

"I just… I don't know what to do about you sometimes. Sometimes you…"

"I'm a devil, I'm supposed to scare you." He said, his voice warping as more of his heritage showed through. She looked up and saw glowing green where his normal blue eyes were.

"Yes but I'm your parent now…" a small gentle hand came to rest on hers

"And you are a good mom. For me." Madeline felt her throat close up and without warning she pulled the boy into a tight hug.

"Thank you." She said as he squirmed, never being one for many hugs or for much physical contact at all. She let him go and he eyed her with slight suspicion.

"Don't do anything stupid." He said as he grabbed his bag and started for the door again.

"Same goes for you young man, I don't need you tracking more demon guts all over my nicely cleaned kitchen." He turned for the door and she was sure that she heard something that sounded like 'it was only once.' And the door closed behind him. She leaned back in her chair, taking another sip of her drink and feeling much better about the whole situation.

-The Boy in Blue-

Vergil shook his head as he headed for Ernest's house, that was odd, Madeline was never one to get extremely sentimental. She mostly kept her thoughts to herself but just then… he knew that she was often uncomfortable with his demonic heritage, and he though he wished she could understand, his mom had told both he and Dante many a time that as devils they would frighten humans and that was just a fact of life. He never thought that Madeline would blame herself as a bad parent for what he thought of as completely natural and as just a part of what he needed to do to keep himself sane. True he enjoyed hunting down devils and demons but it also brought him a sense of calm that he just didn't really get any other way. He hoped that he wasn't going to come home to find her raving drunk. He'd found his mom like that once, after she thought that he and Dante had gone to sleep, he'd snuck downstairs for a glass of water and she had been in the library with a bunch of his father's old things, sobbing and only pausing to take a drink here or there. She'd taken him into her arms and told him about his father who he only remembered vaguely.

Mostly he remembered the feeling of his father's power, it was so strong, even though it was dimmed and split off into the demon realm. He also remembered the strength that it had taken his father to leave them, to lead that demon away from their house all those years ago. His mom told him stories about how they'd met, told him how his father was always so proud of them, his little boys, his little devils. Vergil shook his head to clear the memories away and stepped up to Ernest's house. The younger boy answered the door quickly.

"Sorry I'm late," Vergil said "I had to take a shower."

"It's fine, come on, I got all the stuff so we can make a time capsule, you said that we'd make one so that someday we can open it up together and show Miss Margaret and all of our other friends all the stuff we thought was cool today." Vergil laughed a little bit, though he wished now that he'd done something like this before, so he could look back and see the happier times when his mother was still around, when things didn't seem so hard and lonely. He smiled at the mention of Miss Margaret though, she was by far his favorite teacher ever, she was so kind and such a good teacher. She even let him work ahead sometimes and if that wasn't the best teacher ever, well then Vergil wasn't sure what counted.

"Come on, let's go!"

"Hold on boys, don't you want a picture of the two of you to put with the rest of the stuff?" Ernest's mom asked and both boys paused, neither of them had thought of that but it would take ages for them to go and get the picture developed…

"Mom…" Ernest whined

"Alright fine, but at least let your mother get a good one of you two out in front of the tree for my own sake."

"Mom you just took pictures of us with Miss Margaret at the science fair!" Vergil rolled his eyes and stood posed for the picture.

-The Boy in Blue-

The boys made their time capsule, laughed and joked around and soon enough it was time for bed. As they lay, laughing and giggling and eventually falling asleep something snaked around in the back of Vergil's mind. In the middle of the night it flared and he jackknifed straight up, looking around wildly and ready to draw Yamato at a moment's notice. The feeling pulsed again and then once more, quieter. Vergil sat, waiting for it to come again, he sat for hours, just waiting, and waiting…

A/N: I'm hoping this long chapter will make up for not posting last week and being late this week, now on to the next chapter for Forever and a Day, here's to hoping that one passes faster…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	27. The Boy in Blue

A/N: Here we go, this may end up being the last chapter of this fic but fear not, the next one will pick right back up where this one leaves off! Or I might go back and do Dante's side of this first, who knows, I'll decide later this week when it comes time to start up new fictions because I'll be finishing Wrinkle in Time this week too, and that one probably pick up in a new fiction as well. I'll shut up now.

Disclaimer: WARG

The Boy in Blue

Madeline wasn't expecting the haggard version of Anthony that came walking in the door later that Saturday. She was nursing a bit of a hangover herself, it'd been a while since she'd hit a bottle and her head was reminding her of that fact. But one look at Anthony and she poured a second cup of tea and placed it in front of him as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"What happened to you?" she asked quietly as he gratefully accepted the mug.

"Didn't sleep well? Bad hangover?" he asked and she paused mid-sip

"How'd you know? Wait, how do you even know what that is?" the eleven year old raised an eyebrow at her.

"I read a lot, plus you were drinking when I left yesterday, I can still smell the leftovers on you." He said simply and the older woman felt a slight shiver run down her spine, every time she thought that she had seen everything from this boy, something new surprised her. She swallowed her discomfort with a wash of tea and then sighed as the liquid warmed her throat and soothed her head

"Did you and Ernest just stay up too late?" she asked and then it was Anthony's turn to stiffen. He looked down at his mug of tea and said nothing for a very long moment.

"There was something out there… I could feel it."

"A demon?" she asked and Anthony shook his head, just barely enough for her to tell

"A devil." He said "A powerful one."

"Was it-?"

"No." he cut her off before she could even begin to finish her thought, she knew that she shouldn't press into matters that she had no right butting into but all the same, she needed to know if Anthony was going to go rushing off on some half assed mission for vengeance before he'd even truly recovered from the horror that had put him in the mood for it. "Something else, but strong… very strong. It went away but I don't know where to. I don't know…" he paused, taking a sip of his tea to calm himself, he closed his eyes and Madeline had come to know that he was communicating with the ancient sword that he always kept nearby, that had been quite the discovery to make, that he could talk with a sword and that the sword was sentient as well…

"I don't think I can take it on. But… but I don't know if I'll have a choice." Madeline was sure that her blood turned to ice in that moment.

-The Boy in Blue-

Vergil slammed upright again that night when the presence awoke once more. This time it was even more powerful if that was possible. Of course it was, he chided himself, remembering the monster that had taken his mother away from him and his father even had had a more powerful aura. Yamato appeared in his grip and he clenched his fist around the hilt, the fabric wrappings creaking as he did. He wasn't ready for this, though Yamato pulsed reassuringly within his mind, telling him that he had power further than he thought, he need only use it. Vergil swallowed and stood from bed, rushing down the stairs and ran nearly headlong into Madeline. She blinked and looked at him in surprise.

"Anthony, what are you doing awake? Did you have a nightmare?" she asked

"What are you doing awake?" he said in return, he didn't have time to try and reason with her.

"I couldn't sleep, I have a headache, now stop avoiding my question."

"Is it right here?" he gestured to the base of his skull. She nodded absently

"That's the devil, it's powerful enough for you to sense too, I have to go." She looked at him sadly.

"Please don't, I know I can't actually stop you if you're determined to go but… I don't want to see you get hurt." She said, Vergil sighed and gave her a quick hug

"I promise I'll come back." He said and turned out the door, he pulled on the devil that dwelled within himself and felt the power rush over him, changing his body and dulling the panging emotions of guilt and fear in his heart as he turned from a boy to a monster in a split second. His wings beat at the air, pulling him into the sky, it was a skill that had taken him a long time to achieve and he still wasn't perfect at it but all the same, it would get him closer to the monster.

It didn't take much flying to be able to see the beast, it towered over trees and the statues in the park as though they were no more than simple bushes. Vergil growled low in his chest and prepared to draw Yamato in a brutal strike… only to dodge out of the way of a gout of flames. He yelped and dropped to the ground, resuming his human form as the tip of his tail caught fire. He shivered at the ghost sensation upon a limb that he no longer possessed… the young half devil was prepared to fight long and hard, Yamato egging him on and he even got in a few good blows, though the monstrosity before him hardly seemed to notice. He was about the strike again when arms wrapped around his small chest, pulling him backward off his feet. He squirmed, kicking and fighting

"Anthony stop! Stop!" It was Madeline, he paused before struggling less violently.

"Let me go!" he shouted "I need to fight it!"

"Don't worry about it! You're just going to get yourself killed!"

"No I won't!" he snapped, and then Madeline did the last thing that he expected, she whirled him around and slapped him. His cheek stung and he blinked at her, too stunned for words, she was human and yet had the courage to stand up to him…

"You will." She said softer, though still audible above the roar of the flames. "It's just burning things right now, houses can be rebuilt. Your life cannot be replaced." Her words broke through the haze that he had been hiding behind, he couldn't avenge his mother if he was dead, this was true, Yamato settled within his mind, seeming more docile than it had a moment before.

-The Boy in Blue-

The next several hours were filled with adrenaline and fighting and the smell of Madeline's fear in his nose, and then, just as randomly as the devil had appeared, it vanished again, back into the nether that it had crawled from, the town left as smoldering ruins and the pair left standing in the middle of it, unsure of where to go now that there was nothing left. Slowly survivors started to appear, looking at the pair standing seemingly unhurt in the middle of the remains of the town. The last thing that Vergil expected to hear was

"Why did you set the town on fire? Why did you bring that monster here?" the first few cries were quiet but quickly others joined in. Madeline looked to the boy standing next to her who just looked back up at her with confusion. If anything he'd been trying to help them, trying to direct the monster away from the main parts of town, it hadn't done much good but he'd been trying… he'd just been trying to protect them, so had his surrogate mother, she pulled him closer to her hip. He didn't need her protection but didn't object in his confusion. Why did they blame her…? Why…? She hadn't done anything wrong…

"She didn't do anything…" he said quietly, Madeline put an arm around his shoulder and started to pull him away from the mob of people.

"Anthony, let's go." He resisted for a moment until he saw the mob's anger mounting, he could nearly taste it on the air, that was when he let her pull him along. The last thing he saw of the group of people was Ernest's face looking scared from around the edge of a ruined building.

-The Boy in Blue-

They had just reached the beach near the harbor with nothing more than the clothes upon their backs when another man stepped out of the trees. He had a dark look upon his face and the pair froze.

"You did this, you brought that devil out to destroy us…" he said

"I didn't do anything." Madeline protested

"Then why were you there? Why were the only one unhurt? It's your fault that she's dead!" he was shouting at the end and Vergil was already in action, starting forward to take this man down, a man was no match for the fury of a young half devil. At least that was what the Halfling thought until pain erupted in his chest, he cried out, heard Madeline shout the name she knew him by, heard another explosion, and then another… Slowly he started to recover, feeling the wound begin to stitch itself together, luckily the bullet had flown all the way through or he'd be digging it out later… he rolled over with a groan and then noticed the body laying just behind him and he felt like he had a year ago all over again… Madeline lay, blood spreading through the soft yellow shirt she wore.

"No…" he whispered, he couldn't lose a parent again, not like this, he turned, snarling in the direction of the man and saw only a corpse, the side of his head a mangled mess where he'd shot himself. Madeline coughed and he turned back to her, hoping beyond anything that she would somehow pull through.

"Please… Madeline…" the woman who had become his second mother, the doting aunt he'd never had, the woman who'd cared for him when he had no one lifted her hand and put it on his face, looking into his eyes lovingly.

"Anthony… you have to go, you have to get out of here…" he swallowed back tears, devils never cried… a few leaked down his cheeks without his consent.

"Vergil, my real name's Vergil." He said, she smiled weakly

"That's a nice name, suits you… Go… go and find…" she coughed, blood spattering on her lips "your brother…" Vergil choked as her breath left her one last time and her chest did not rise again.

He sat there for some time, choking on his own tears and the anger at humanity for taking his only family away from him, again. Finally he stood, angrily wiping his cheeks, placing one tender kiss on Madeline's forehead and walking toward the dock to find a way back to the mainland. Once again he was little more than a boy in a battered and bloodstained blue shirt…

A/N: Now I feel we're going to get into more of the meat of Vergil's character, his vendetta against humanity, his drive for revenge, his need for power, and not just power, power to protect if you recall his words from the third game. Anywho it's been a fantastic ride and check up on my page next week for the next installment of this monster of a project. It's likely to be on Vergil again but I may start in with Dante too.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


End file.
